Department for Transport

Network Rail

Sir John Stanley: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will issue a direction to the Chief Executive of Network Rail to reply to the letter of 3 June 2014 from the right hon. Member for Tonbridge and Malling, and his subsequent letter pressing for a reply, regarding the establishment of a business and innovation centre at the Station Masters House at Edenbridge Town Station.

Claire Perry: Network Rail operates at arm’s-length from the Department, without day-to-day supervision, and is not expected to involve Ministers in its regular operational decisions such as the establishment of a business and innovation centre at Edenbridge Town station.   However, this is an unacceptable delay and Network Rail advises that Mark Carne’s reply to the right Hon Member for Tonbridge and Malling is due to be sent on 23 January.   Network Rail held a site meeting in December with the train operator Southern and the group proposing to use the Station Masters House, to look at the rooms in question and to discuss the proposals for future use. Network Rail is continuing its discussions about the lease with all parties to find a way forward in the near future. Both Network Rail and Southern are supportive of this proposal.

London-Brighton Railway Line

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what penalties will be incurred for consistent delays on passenger services between (a) Brighton and London Victoria at (i) 07:14, (ii) 07:29 and (iii) 07:44 and (b) London Victoria and Brighton at (i) 17:32, (ii) 17:44 and (iii) 18:02 between January 2014 and December 2014 where delays were attributable to (A) train operating companies and (B) Network Rail; and if he will make a statement.

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will (a) make an assessment of and (b) discuss with the Office of Rail Regulation the punctuality record of the (i) 07:14, 07:29 and 07:44 Brighton to London Victoria and (ii) 17:32, 17:44 and 18:02 London Victoria to Brighton rail services in 2014.

Claire Perry: The performance of a franchise is measured across its entirety; we do not measure individual lines, routes or journey. Therefore, any penalties imposed are in respect of the performance of the entire franchise. Any penalty on Network Rail’s performance is a matter for the independent Office of Rail Regulation (ORR), which is an independent statutory body, with powers vested by Parliament in their board. As an independent regulator, the ORR operates within the framework set by UK and EU legislation and is accountable through Parliament and the courts. Performance across parts of the Southern and Thameslink franchises has not been up to the standards that passengers rightly expect. Department officials and the ORR recently chaired a performance meeting with regard to the Brighton Main Line. The industry is working together to develop an action plan to improve train performance and this will be presented to the Rail Minister and local MPs on 2nd February in the House.

Motor Vehicles: Exhaust Emissions

Mrs Sharon Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many ultra low emission vehicles of what models have been registered under the Plug-in Car Grant.

Mr Robert Goodwill: 17601 plug-in car grant payments have been made between the start of the scheme and 31 December 2014. These were for the following models: ManufacturerModel No. of claims paidNissanLeaf6398MitsubishiOutlander4354ToyotaPlug-in Prius1206VauxhallAmpera1139RenaultZoe873BMWi3 REV624BMWi3 BEV535TeslaModel S515PeugeotiOn343MercedesSmart Fortwo268Mitsubishii-Miev206BMWi8194CitroenC-Zero193PorschePanamera191Volvov60177ChevroletVolt130VWe-Up89RenaultFluence82VWe-Golf46AudiE-tron37MIAMia1 The total number of PICG claims to end December 2014 is 22125. The difference between this figure, and the total payments figure above, represents claims currently being processed in the system. The Department for Transport also publishes registration data per model. The latest annual data is available here:https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/veh01-vehicles-registered-for-the-first-time

Roads: Litter

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the existing contracts for the removal of litter on the strategic road network.

Mr John Hayes: I have taken a keen interest in this matter and believe more should be done. The Highways Agency’s existing contracts specify sweeping and cleaning activities on the network to comply with the mandatory legal requirements under the Environmental Protection Act 1990. The Act states that the area should not fall below a Grade B (“Predominantly free from litter and refuse apart from some small items”), and the contracts operate satisfactorily in this regard. However, I intend to discuss with the Highways Agency what further steps could be taken to reduce litter on the Strategic Road Network.

Roads: Graffiti

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the cost to the Highways Agency was of the removal of graffiti from road signage and structures for which it has maintenance responsibility in the latest period for which figures are available.

Mr John Hayes: The Highways Agency does not separately identify the exact annual cost of removing graffiti from its road signs and structures as this activity forms part of a wider contracted service which includes a number of other general maintenance activities.

M67

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what arrangements are in place to ensure that the (a) embankments, slip roads and hard shoulders and (b) other areas of the M67 motorway from the Denton interchange to the River Tame are swept and adequately litter-picked.

Mr John Hayes: I have taken a keen interest in this matter and believe more should be done. The Highways Agency is required by the Environmental Protection Act 1990 to ensure that motorways and a small number of trunk roads in England are, so far as is practicable, kept clear of litter and refuse. The Act is supplemented by a Code of Practice which specifies standards of cleanliness and response times. A dedicated litter inspection is undertaken on the M67 at the beginning of each month which assesses the condition of the motorway and applies a grading for both litter and detritus in accordance with the Code of Practice. Any required restoration measures take place within the required timescales, in accordance with the Code of Practice – 14 days for slip road carriageways, hard shoulders and verges and 28 days (or as soon as is reasonably practicable) for the main line carriageway, central reserve, hard shoulders and verges. However, I intend to discuss with the Highways Agency what further steps could be taken to reduce litter on the Strategic Road Network.

Roads: Litter

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the levels of litter on the strategic road network.

Mr John Hayes: I have taken a keen interest in this matter and believe more should be done. Levels of litter on the Highways Agency network are assessed through routine inspections, customer surveys and information received from members of the public reporting littering issues on the network. However, I intend to discuss with the Highways Agency what further steps could be taken to reduce litter on the Strategic Road Network.

Employment Agencies

Pamela Nash: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, which five companies were used most often to provide temporary workers for his Department in the last financial year; and how much was paid in agency fees to those companies in that period.

Claire Perry: In March 2014, the Department began sourcing new temporary workers via Lot 1 and Lot 2 of the Contingent LabourOne Framework. Lot 1, Neutral Vendor Service, is supplied by Capita Business Services (Grades SEO – SCS) and Lot 2, Managed Service Provision, supplied by Brook Street UK Ltd (Grades AA – HEO). It is likely that Capita Business Services sub contract to their agreed supply chain; however, the Department does not hold this information. The percentage charged by the agency for each worker can vary based on a number of factors; so whilst the Department holds information on the total spend for temporary workers via Contingent LabourOne during the last financial year, it does not hold information on the amount paid in agency fees.

M67

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will make an assessment of whether the (a) embankments, slip roads and hard shoulders and (b) other parts of the M67 motorway from the Denton interchange to the River Tame meet statutory standards of cleanliness.

Mr John Hayes: I have taken a keen interest in this matter and believe more should be done. The Highways Agency is required by the Environmental Protection Act 1990 to ensure that motorways and a small number of trunk roads in England are, so far as is practicable, kept clear of litter and refuse. The Act is supplemented by a Code of Practice which specifies standards of cleanliness and response times. A dedicated litter inspection is undertaken on the M67 at the beginning of each month which assesses the condition of the motorway and applies a grading for both litter and detritus in accordance with the Code of Practice. Any required restoration measures take place within the required timescales, in accordance with the Code of Practice – 14 days for slip road carriageways, hard shoulders and verges and 28 days (or as soon as is reasonably practicable) for the main line carriageway, central reserve, hard shoulders and verges. However, I intend to discuss with the Highways Agency what further steps could be taken to reduce litter on the Strategic Road Network.

Railways: Woking

Jonathan Lord: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many additional seats he expects will be made available on trains from Woking to London Waterloo in non-peak hours in each of the years from 2015 to 2018.

Jonathan Lord: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many additional seats he expects will be made available on trains from Woking to London Waterloo during peak hours in each of the years from 2015 to 2018.

Claire Perry: During 2015-2016 I expect nearly 2900 additional seats will be made available on trains from Woking to London Waterloo during peak hours. On top of this figure by the end of 2018 over 4200 additional seats will be provided. The provision of additional capacity during Off Peak periods is not specifically contracted, however just over 2600 additional seats will be provided during 2015-16. Off-peak services beyond 2017 have not been contracted in detail but there is likely to be an increase during the off peak period as well.

Public Expenditure

Chris Leslie: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to page 168 of his Department's Annual Report and Accounts 2013-14, which were the 10 largest recipients of payments by the Departmental Group for Professional Services; and how much was paid to each such recipient.

Claire Perry: The 10 largest recipients of payments for Professional Services were as follows: £m1Ove Arup & Partners Limited352Atkins Limited243Environmental Resources Management Limited224CH2M Hill UK215Mott Macdonald Limited146Capita Symonds Ltd127Parsons Brinckerhoff Ltd88Aecom Ltd39Network Rail Infrastructure Ltd210Deloitte2

Roads: Repairs and Maintenance

Mr Nigel Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department has taken to provide financial assistance to local authorities to repair potholes.

Mr Robert Goodwill: Potholes are a menace to all road users and that is why this Government is taking action. We announced in December 2014 how we are allocating just under £6 billion for councils in England to tackle potholes and improve local road conditions over the next six years. This funding is on top of the £4.7 billion we have provided since 2010 – which is over £1billion more than in the previous Parliament - and includes £168 million awarded last year as part of a dedicated Pothole Fund.

A14: Kettering

Mr Philip Hollobone: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, by which date he expects the widening work between junctions 7 and 9 of the A14 around Kettering will have been completed.

Mr John Hayes: The scheme is in the final stages of the works and is programmed for completion by spring 2015. We are exploring the opportunity to bring our rolling maintenance plan forward in order to re-surface the full width so that our customers experience a brand new piece of highway at the end of the works. This approach would avoid the need to revisit the same length of carriageway in the near future to conduct these re-surfacing works. If we decide this is the best overall approach for our customers, further details on timing would follow shortly. The Agency will also notify in writing all local constituency MPs and stakeholders.

Northern Rail

John Pugh: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of plans to continue the use of Pacer trains on the Northern franchise.

Claire Perry: We are committed to improving services for passengers across the North of England. Pacers fall short of passengers’ expectations. As the Prime Minister has said, we will be asking bidders for the Northern franchise to propose plans to phase these outdated trains out. All franchise competitions are evaluated for quality as well as cost. In presenting his Autumn Statement to Parliament, the Chancellor said that in the new Northern and TransPennine Express franchises Pacers would be replaced and that new and modern trains would be introduced.

Leeds-Bradford Airport

Stuart Andrew: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what progress his Department has made on implementing the recommendations of the Leeds Bradford International Airport connectivity study, published in November 2014.

Mr John Hayes: The Leeds Bradford International Airport Connectivity Study set out the potential benefit of a new link road and recommended further consideration of the opportunity for a rail link to be provided in the longer term. The Chancellor set out the Government’s response to the study in the Autumn Statement, in which he encouraged the West Yorkshire Combined Authority to consider how to take the recommendations forward.

Walking and Cycling

Bridget Phillipson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he has taken to increase levels of walking and cycling.

Mr Robert Goodwill: The Government is committed to increasing walking and cycling and has more than doubled the funding compared to the last administration. The draft Cycling Delivery Plan was published last October and set out our vision for walking and cycling over the next 10 years.

Schools: Parking

Mark Pawsey: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to tackle parking near schools.

Mr Robert Goodwill: Local authorities already have the power to restrict parking around schools. Such restrictions can be enforced by local authorities with civil enforcement powers or by the police elsewhere.

Road Traffic

Jeremy Lefroy: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what plans he has to relieve congestion on roads.

Mr John Hayes: The Government has an ambitious strategy for tackling congestion and improving the performance of our roads. The performance specification in the Road Investment Strategy will set plans for tackling congestion over the network as a whole, and a series of enhancements will address specific pinch points and problem areas.

Home Office

Domestic Violence

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate she has made of the proportion of incidents marked as domestic violence cases which related to (a) male perpetrators against female partners, (b) female perpetrators against male partners and (c) other cases of domestic violence.

Lynne Featherstone: The Home Office does not hold this information centrally. The Home Office receives domestic abuse incident data from the police in England and Wales but these data do not contain information on the sex of the victim or the perpetrator.

Violent and Sex Offender Register

Mrs Emma Lewell-Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many registered sex offenders there are in the UK; how many people on the Violent and Sex Offenders Register have committed sexual offences against children; and what the reoffending rate is for people on that register who have committed such offences in the latest period for which figures are available.

Lynne Featherstone: Figures for the number of registered sex offenders in the UK are contained in the Multi-Agency Public Protection Arrangements Annual Report, published by the Ministry of Justice. This includes MAPPA-eligible offenders who have been charged with a serious further offence. The report covering the period from April 2013 to March 2014 is available on the GOV.uk website. The Home Office does not hold data on the number of registered sex offenders who have committed sexual offences against children.

Stalking

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the sex was of the complainant and the accused in each case of stalking reported after the implementation of the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012; and what proportion of such cases which were investigated resulted in the accused being (i) charged with the offence and (ii) cautioned.

Lynne Featherstone: The Home Office does not hold this information centrally. The Home Office has received data on the number of stalking offences recorded in England and Wales since April 2014 as a separate offence category but these data do not contain information on the sex of the victim or the perpetrator. Prior to April 2014, stalking offences under Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 were included within the harassment offence classification.The latest available statistics show that between April and June 2014 there were 695 stalking offences recorded by the police in England and Wales. The Ministry of Justice hold separate data for the number of cautions that have been issued for stalking. Between the implementation of the Protection of Freedoms Act in January 2013 and 30 June 2014 there were 57 cautions given for stalking. This comprised of 49 given to males, 7 given to females and 1 where the gender was not stated. Neither the Home Office nor the Ministry of Justice hold information on the number of individuals charged.

Offences against Children

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate she has made of the number of new cases of historic child abuse which have come forward in the last 12 months; and what recent assessment she has made of the capabilities of police forces to deal with such cases.

Lynne Featherstone: Holding answer received on 20 January 2015



Child sexual abuse is a reprehensible crime which this government is determined to stamp out. We have been clear that if anyone has been a victim of child sexual abuse, or knows of someone who has been a victim, then they should report it to the police so that it can be thoroughly investigated. The Home Office does not collate statistics on the number of historic cases of child abuse being reported. The resourcing for individual operations investigating child sexual abuse is an operational matter for the relevant Chief Officer. Operation Hydrant is the national policing response to the oversight and co-ordination of all child abuse investigations concerning persons of public prominence or those offences which took place historically in institutional settings. Overseen by the National Policing Lead for Child Protection and Abuse Investigations, Operation Hydrant is responsible for the production of best practice guidance for Senior Investigating Officers (SIOs) investigating relevant allegations.The College of Policing has also produced Authorised Professional Practice (APP) for forces on Managing complex child abuse investigations.

Child Sexual Abuse Independent Panel Inquiry

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what instructions or guidance officials of her Department have given to members of the Independent Inquiry Panel into child sexual abuse about speaking in public about the work of that Panel.

Lynne Featherstone: Holding answer received on 20 January 2015



Before the panel began its substantive work, and the secretariat was fully established, limited guidance was offered to those panel members who needed it.Panel members are now supported by their own independent secretariat and Counsel. The secretariat will have its own procedures on speaking in publicabout the work of the Inquiry, although we would expect any procedures to respect the confidentiality of meetings held with survivors.

Asylum

Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many fresh applications for asylum have been (a) made and (b) accepted, in each of the last five years.

James Brokenshire: The Home Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Asylum: Liverpool

Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, for what reasons her Department decided that further submissions on asylum and human rights cases must be made in person in Liverpool; with which bodies her Department consulted before making that decision; and what assistance her Department will provide to help individuals travel to Liverpool to make such submissions.

James Brokenshire: The changes are designed to speed up decision-making on further submissions, enabling us to grant protection more quickly to those who need it and remove those who have no right to be here. Centralising the process will allow us to make decisions within five working days in most cases. The new process applies only to failed asylum seekers whose claims have already been refused, and their appeal rights exhausted. There have been extensive internal discussions with policy experts, legal advisers and operational staff during the development of this policy. We believe that early public consultation would have led to a rush of further submissions, but we notified the National Asylum Stakeholder Forum in advance of the changes. There is already a nationwide requirement for those who claimed asylum before March 2007 to lodge further submissions in Liverpool.Travel costs will not be reimbursed. In exceptional cases where a person is genuinely unable to travel to Liverpool, for example due to a disability or severe illness, there is provision to accept further submissions by post.

Asylum: Saudi Arabia

Mr Roger Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will offer asylum to Raif Badawi and his family.

James Brokenshire: The United Kingdom has a proud tradition of providing protection to those who need it and we will continue to fulfil our responsibilities to those who arrive in the UK and claim asylum. However to be eligible for international protection under the 1951 Refugee Convention, a person must be located outside their country of origin. We cannot undertake to consider granting asylum to individuals or groups ofpeople abroad and it is not our practice to grant visas for the purpose of seeking asylum. It is understood that Mr Badawi’s wife and children havebeen given asylum in Canada.

Animal Experiments

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to protect the well-being of animals once they have outlived their use in laboratories.

Lynne Featherstone: The Home Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Entry Clearances: Overseas Students

Paul Blomfield: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 15 January 2015 to Question 220354, how many study visas were granted for each of the top 10 nationalities in each year since 2009.

James Brokenshire: The information requested is given in the table below:   Top 10 nationalities granted study entry clearance visas in each of the years 2009-2013 (including dependants)  Top 10 nationalities in 2013Study visas grantedChina62,532   United States14,297   India13,603   Nigeria12,010   Malaysia9,994   Hong Kong9,653   Saudi Arabia9,361   Pakistan4,932   Thailand4,924   Russia4,622   Other72,697   Total218,625Top 10 nationalities in 2012Study visas grantedChina57,336   India17,271   United States13,674   Nigeria11,122   Pakistan10,984   Saudi Arabia9,943   Hong Kong8,845   Malaysia8,033   Thailand4,502   Russia4,206   Other63,833   Total209,749Top 10 nationalities in 2011Study visas grantedChina52,488   Pakistan35,659   India34,877   United States14,480   Nigeria12,103   Saudi Arabia10,085   Hong Kong7,576   Malaysia7,420   Bangladesh6,450   Korea (South)5,374   Other75,358   Total261,870Top 10 nationalities in 2010Study visas grantedIndia49,406   China44,724   Pakistan26,490   United States14,985   Saudi Arabia14,560   Nigeria12,256   Bangladesh10,140   Sri Lanka9,454   Hong Kong7,225   Korea (South)7,036   Other89,268   Total285,544Top 10 nationalities in 2009Study visas grantedIndia64,223   China37,820   Bangladesh18,164   Saudi Arabia17,862   United States15,291   Pakistan13,747   Nepal12,386   Nigeria12,237   Philippines8,180   Malaysia7,041   Other96,410   Total303,361Source: Immigration Statistics, July - September 2014, table vi_06_q_s, Visas Volume 3.Table notes: 1) The figures refer to entry clearance visas applied for outside the UK.  2) Student visitor visas are not included. Student visitors may come to the UK for up to 6 months (or 11 months for an English language course) and cannot extend their stay.3) Dependants are included.  The latest Home Office immigration statistics are published in the Immigration Statistics July – September 2014 (Entry clearance visas granted outside the UK tables, volume 3, table vi_06_q_s), which is available from the Library of the House and on the Department’s website at:https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/immigration-statistics-quarterly-releaseIt is planned to publish information for 2014 on 26 February.

Staff

Pamela Nash: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how much her Department spent on (a) recruitment agency fees, (b) outplacement agency fees for displaced or redundant staff and (c) staff training in each of the last five years.

Karen Bradley: The Home Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Immigrants: Bail

Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many applications for bail made under Schedules 2 and 3 of the Immigration Act 1971 or section 36(4) of the UK Borders Act 2007 were made to (a) an immigration officer, (b) the Secretary of State for the Home Department and (c) the First-Tier Tribunal, Immigration and Asylum Chamber in each of the last five years.

James Brokenshire: The Home Office does not record bail applications in a reportable format that shows the schedule under which each application was submitted. In order to extract this data each applicant’s Home Office file would need to be interrogated to locate the paper copy of the bail application.Therefore, to provide the data as requested would incur disproportionate cost.

Antisemitism

Sir Alan Duncan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate she has made of the number of anti-Semitic assaults recorded in England since October 2014.

Sir Alan Duncan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many crimes of each category were perpetrated against Jewish people and recorded as being anti-Semitic in each police force area in each month since January 2014.

Sir Alan Duncan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what statistical information her Department has used to establish the extent of, and any recent trends in, crimes against Jewish victims in England since October 2014.

Lynne Featherstone: The Home Office does not hold the requested information. The Home Office do receive data on hate crimes recorded by the police in England and Wales for the five centrally monitored strands (race, religion, sexual orientation, disability and gender identity) but these data cannot be broken down by religion of the victim. The most recently available data relate to the financial year 2013/14 and can be found at this link: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/hate-crimes-england-and-wales-2013-to-2014 The Association of Chief Police Officers also publishes data on hate crimes for England, Wales and Northern Ireland. These figures separate out the number of crimes that were anti-Semitic. Data for 2013/14 can be found at this link: http://www.report-it.org.uk/files/acpo_recorded_hate_crime_201314_as_posted.pdf The Home Office uses a range of additional sources of information from stakeholders in assessing hate crime, including information on anti-Semitic hate crime from the Community Security Trust.

Asylum

Mr David Hanson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the total cost to her Department is of employing an Executive Officer asylum case worker.

James Brokenshire: The pay scales for an Executive Officer asylum decision-maker are:EO National—£22,770 to £26,209EO London—£26,242 to £30,181

Asylum: Housing

Mr David Hanson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the average weekly cost is of housing an asylum seeker under (a) section 95 and (b) section 4 of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999.

James Brokenshire: The information requested is commercially sensitive. The release of this information could prejudice the Home Office’s commercial competiveness if it is decided to re-procure asylum accommodation services.

Firearms: Licensing

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to reduce the number of illegal firearms.

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to reduce criminal access to illegal firearms.

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when her Department last reviewed the effectiveness of Government policy aimed at reducing the number of illegal firearms.

Lynne Featherstone: The UK has some of the toughest gun laws in the world and as a result firearms continue to be used in a small and diminishing proportion of total police recorded crime - 0.2%. Offences involving firearms (excluding air weapons) recorded by the police have fallen by 39% between year ending June 2010 (7,991 offences) and year ending March 2014 (4,843 offences). Nevertheless the Government continues to undertake work to reduce the number of firearms and crimes relating to them in the UK. We have recently introduced legislation to: • increase the maximum sentence for import and export of prohibited firearms from ten years to life imprisonment;• increase the maximum sentence for the manufacture, sale or transfer and purchase or acquire for sale or transfer illegal firearms from ten years to life imprisonment; and,• introduce a new offence of possession with intent to supply, with a tough maximum penalty of life imprisonment. In addition, the Law Commission is taking forward a scoping review of firearms law during 2015. Following the recent terrorist attacks in Paris we have reviewed our efforts against illegal firearms. As the Home Secretary made clear in her statement on 14 January, we are stepping up our efforts with our international partners to crack down on the illegal smuggling of weapons across borders.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Bangladesh

Jim Fitzpatrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the political situation in Bangladesh.

Mr Hugo Swire: The Government is deeply concerned about the escalating violence and disruption in Bangladesh, which affects the daily lives of its citizens. All political parties must urge restraint, an end to violence and respect for the rule of law. We have called on Bangladesh’s political parties to work together through dialogue to find a long-term solution that breaks the cycle of violence and disruption.The British High Commissioner to Bangladesh, along with other EU Ambassadors, met Bangladesh Foreign Minister Mahmood Ali on 14 January to express collective concerns at the ongoing violence in Bangladesh, in particular the shooting of former Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Reaz Rahman and an attack on a bus in Rangpur which killed four people, including a child. They asked that the Bangladesh government investigate these crimes promptly and in accordance with the law. Our High Commissioner echoed these concerns in his statement on 14 January. I also raised these issues with the Bangladesh Minster for Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs in our meeting on Tuesday 20 January.

China

Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent representations he has made to the Chinese government about human rights in that country.

Mr Hugo Swire: We are concerned by the human rights situation in China, in particular the restrictions on civil and political rights. We raise human rights regularly with Chinese counterparts. The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond) did so most recently during the UK-China Economic and Financial Dialogue in September 2014, and I did so with Vice Minister Wang Chao in Beijing earlier this month. We highlight our concerns publicly in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office’s Annual Report on Human Rights and Democracy (www.hrdreport.fco.gov.uk), and through multilateral fora such as the UN Human Rights Council. Officials also raise our concerns in detail with Chinese counterparts during the UK-China Human Rights Dialogue, last held in London in May 2014.

Friends of Syria

Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, when he next expects the Friends of Syria Group to meet next.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: The Core Group of the Friends of Syria are due to meet in London on 22 January at senior official level, following the meeting of the Global Coalition to Counter ISIL.

Iceland

Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he has had with his Icelandic counterpart on strengthening business relations between that country and the UK.

Mr David Lidington: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, has not yet held discussions with his Icelandic counterpart on strengthening business relations. These issues were last discussed in detail by hon. Friend the Member for Hertford and Stortford (Mark Prisk), Investment Envoy for the Nordic Baltic region, and Högni S. Kristjánsson, the Icelandic Director General of Trade and Economic Affairs, at the annual UK Iceland bilateral discussion on 27 November 2014. The British Embassy and UK Trade and Investment in Reykjavik have constant discussions with Icelandic companies on the possibilities of investing in the UK and assist UK companies to export to Iceland.

Thailand

Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent representations he has made to the Thai government on human trafficking.

Mr Hugo Swire: As part of our inaugural strategic dialogue in 2013, which I co-chaired, the UK and Thailand committed to work together to combat transnational crimes, including illegal trafficking. Since the coup of May 2014, high-level bilateral exchanges with the military-dominated Thai government have been postponed or cancelled. However, we continue to look for opportunities to raise this issue where and when we can. We also work with the Thai authorities on the disruption of human trafficking and illegal migration, and have issued statements in support of activists working on the issue of migrants’ rights.

USA

Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with his counterparts in the US administration on strengthening diplomatic ties between the US and UK.

Mr Hugo Swire: We place great importance on the strength of the diplomatic relationship we hold with the US. We have regular discussions with the US administration on a range of key foreign policy issues, including most recently during the visit of the Prime Minister, my right hon. Friend the Member for Witney (Mr Cameron) to the US on 15 and 16 January. In a joint press conference with President Obama, the Prime Minister stated that “For almost two centuries, ..., America and Britain have stood as kindred spirits in defending our freedoms and advancing our shared prosperity”. The President acknowledged the UK as “one of my closest and most trusted partners in the world”.

Burma

Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent representations he has made to the Burmese government on the persecution of the Rohingya people in that country.

Mr Hugo Swire: I refer my hon. Friend to my answer of 4 December 2014 (PQ 216502). I also discussed the situation of the Rohingya at length in a Westminster Hall debate on 14 January (Citation: HC Deb, 14 January 2015, c327WH).

Sri Lanka

Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, when he next plans to meet the Sri Lankan Minister of External Affairs.

Mr Hugo Swire: I hope to engage with the Sri Lankan Minister of External Affairs, and other representatives of the newly appointed Sri Lankan government, at the earliest opportunity. The UK looks forward to working with the new government and reinvigorating the long standing partnership between the UK and Sri Lanka.

Mexico

Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with his Mexican counterpart on (a) the kidnapping of students in Iguala in September 2014 and (b) human rights in that country; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Hugo Swire: We have been closely monitoring the tragic events in Guerrero and both Ministers and officials have raised the case with their Mexican counterparts. I personally raised the case of the missing students in Iguala with the Mexican Foreign Minister during the UK-Mexico High Level Political Talks that took place in Mexico in November 2014.We stand ready to support the Mexican government in their efforts to tackle violence and impunity and will continue to engage in constructive bilateral dialogue on human rights issues.

Mexico

Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he has had with his Mexican counterpart on strengthening UK-Mexico business relations.

Mr Hugo Swire: I visited Mexico from 2 to 5 November and held High Level Political Talks with Mexican Foreign Minister Jose Meade and Deputy Foreign Minister Carlos de Icaza. We discussed a broad range of topics which included our respective efforts to tackle Ebola, countering extremism across the globe, human rights, as well as strengthening UK-Mexico business relations. The UK and Mexico are committed to doubling bilateral trade from 2010 levels by the end of this year.

Afghanistan

Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent representations he has made to his counterparts in the government of Afghanistan on the operation of ISIL in the south of that country.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: We are aware of recent media reports claiming that elements of the insurgency in Afghanistan have pledged allegiance to ISIL. Alongside our international partners, we continue to monitor the situation as part of our close cooperation on security matters with the Afghan Government.

Members: Correspondence

Sir Gerald Kaufman: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, when he intends to reply to the letter to him dated 5 December 2014 from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton with regard to Ms C Lyes.

Mr David Lidington: The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond) replied to the letter from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton, with regard to Ms C Lyes, on 20 January 2015.

Nigeria

Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether the UK will provide observers for the forthcoming general election in Nigeria.

Mr Hugo Swire: Presidential and gubernatorial Elections are due to take place in Nigeria on 14 and 28 February. We continue to call on all leaders and political parties to use their influence to ensure that elections are credible, transparent and free from violence. Approximately 50 personnel from the UK Missions in Abuja and Lagos also plan to observe in 14 States, including the Abuja Federal Capital Territory, for election polls on both 14 and 28 February. We are also planning to contribute 6 Local Short Term Observers to the European Union Election Observation Mission.

Colombia

Robert Flello: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will make representations to the government of Colombia urging action on recent death threats to former Colombian Senator, Piedad Cordoba.

Mr Hugo Swire: We are aware of death threats to former Colombian Senator Piedad Córdoba made on 12 January, Mrs Córdoba and other members of congress have since met President Santos, to request an investigation. As a result the Attorney General announced the creation of inter-agency groups in charge of investigating the threats. Our Ambassador in Bogota met the President’s Minister-Counsellor for post conflict and human rights, Oscar Naranjo, on 15 January where they discussed the case of Piedad Córdoba and the importance of security for human rights defenders in general. Our Ambassador received assurances that the necessary security measures were already in place in order to mitigate any risk to former Senator Cordoba.

North Korea

Mr Nigel Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent assessment his Department has made of North Korea's nuclear activities.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: We keep the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea’s (DPRK) nuclear and ballistic missile programmes under constant review. We are concerned that the DPRK has restarted its Yongbyon nuclear reactor, coupled with reports that a nearby uranium enrichment facility has been expanded. DPRK threats to conduct a fourth nuclear test are extremely worrying and only serve to destabilise regional security further. We continue to urge the DPRK to comply with its obligations under relevant UN Security Council Resolutions, to refrain from any further provocations, to abide by its obligations under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and to permit full access by the International Atomic Energy Agency.

Auschwitz Camp

Mr Nigel Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps his Department has taken to mark the seventieth anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau.

Mr David Lidington: The UK will be represented at the official commemoration ceremony for the 70th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau to be held in Auschwitz-Birkenau on 27 January by my right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary, and my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government. The delegation will include survivors of Auschwitz, the British Ambassador to Warsaw, representatives of the Holocaust Educational Trust and the Board of Deputies of British Jews.The UK has donated £2.1 million to the Auschwitz-Birkenau Foundation. We have been very closely involved in the efforts made by the Foundation to raise the remaining amount for the Perpetual Fund that will enable the Museum and Memorial to function indefinitely. Our Ambassador in Warsaw has been helping to lead efforts to engage the private sector in supporting the Fund, including by hosting a meeting to discuss how to assist the Foundation in promoting the idea of 18 Pillars of Remembrance – involving substantial contributions by private donors.The Government supports the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust to deliver the national commemoration and local activities across the UK, and will be represented at a senior level at this year’s commemoration. Holocaust Memorial Day 2014 was the most successful to date with 2,400 activities having taken place. Reflecting our Chairmanship of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance, we have encouraged our Embassies, High Commissions and Consulates around the world to make a special effort this year to host or sponsor various activities on 27 January to commemorate Holocaust Memorial Day. We hosted a major Holocaust Memorial Day commemoration at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in London on 21 January in partnership with the Embassy of Israel in London.

Colombia

Robert Flello: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what reports his Department has received on recent death threats to former Colombian Senator, Piedad Cordoba.

Mr Hugo Swire: We are aware of death threats to former Colombian Senator Piedad Córdoba made on 12 January. Mrs Córdoba and other members of congress have since met President Santos, to request an investigation. As a result the Attorney General announced the creation of inter-agency groups in charge of investigating the threats.Our Ambassador in Bogota met the President’s Minister-Counsellor for post conflict and human rights, Oscar Naranjo, on 15 January where they discussed the case of Piedad Córdoba and the importance of security for human rights defenders in general. Our Ambassador received assurances that the necessary security measures were already in place in order to mitigate any risk to former Senator Cordoba.

Attorney General

Stalking

Philip Davies: To ask the Attorney General, what assessment he has made of the effect of the stalking offences introduced by the implementation of the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 on the number of other offences charged under the Protection from Harassment Act 1997.

Mr Robert Buckland: The Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 created two new offences of stalking by inserting new sections 2A and 4A into the Protection from Harassment Act 1997. The new offences, which are not retrospective, came into force on the 25th of November 2012 and provide further options for prosecutors to consider when selecting charges. Between the introduction of the new stalking offences on the 25th of November 2012 and the end of September 2014, Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) data for stalking offences charged by prosecutors shows a steady rise. It is not possible to determine with certainty the impact that the stalking offences have had on the number of other offences charged under the Protection from Harassment Act 1997.Figures for the number of stalking and harassment charges that reached a first hearing at Magistrates’ Courts are set out in the table below:   2011-20122012-20132013-20142014-2015 (April - Sept 2014)Protection from Harassment Act 1997{ 2(1) and (2) }Harassment.7,7137,1598,3034,381Protection from Harassment Act 1997{ 4(1) and (4) }Harassment involvingfear of violence.1,6321,3981,489859Protection from Harassment Act 1997{ 2A(1) and (4) }Stalking with fear/ alarm / distress.072529319Protection from Harassment Act 1997{ 4A(1)(a)(b)(i) and (5) }Stalking involvingfear of violence.096559Protection from Harassment Act 1997{ 4A(1)(a)(b)(ii) and (5) }Stalking involvingserious alarm / distress.010149122TOTAL HARASSMENT OFFENCES9,3458,64810,5355,740 Data Source: CPS Case Management Information SystemNotes:1. Whilst there is no strict legal definition of 'stalking', section 2A (3) of the  Protection from Harassment Act 1997 sets out examples of acts or omissions which, in particular circumstances, are ones associated with stalking. These include: following, contacting, or attempting to contact a person by any means (this may be through friends, work colleagues, family or technology); or, other intrusions into the victim's privacy such as loitering in a particular place or watching or spying on a person. The effect of such behaviour is to curtail a victim's freedom, leaving them feeling that they constantly have to be watchful. In many cases, the conduct might appear innocent (if it were to be taken in isolation), but when carried out repeatedly so as to amount to a course of conduct, it may then cause significant alarm, harassment or distress to the victim.2. The table of data indicates the volume of offences charged in which a prosecution commenced at magistrates’ courts for offences of harassment. No information is held as to the number of individual defendants prosecuted, or details related to these individuals. It is often the case that an individual defendant is charged with more than one offence against the same victim.

Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

Origin Marking

Joan Walley: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, pursuant to the Oral Answer of 8 January 2014 from the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State in his Department, Official Report, column 382, on mandatory origin marking, if he will place in the Library a list of the companies that have been consulted as part of the study of country of origin marking.

Jo Swinson: 329 organisations and companies were contacted and 45 interviews were conducted by the research company carrying out the study on the impact of compulsory country of origin marking on behalf of the Department. Respondents were asked for permission for their name to be included in the final report, but only 12 did so. We have asked the research company to contact all of those respondents that indicated that they were content to have their name included in the final report to seek their permission to make it public now. A list of those respondents who indicate that they are content to be identified in this way will be placed in the Library of the House.

Working Hours: EU Law

Mr Christopher Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what progress the Government has made since 2010 in negotiating a revision of the Working Time Directive; and if he will make a statement.

Jo Swinson: The Working Time Directive was last negotiated in 2012 by European Social Partners. That negotiation ended without agreement in 2013 and the initiative is back with the European Commission. The Directive is not currently in negotiation, but the UK is making its priorities clear. The European Commission have just issued a public consultation on the Directive. The Government is preparing its response and encourages interested organisations and individuals to respond.

Department for International Development

Overseas Aid

Mary Creagh: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what aggregate outcomes she has set for her Department's strategic framework for economic development.

Justine Greening: The current DFID results framework includes a number of aggregated economic development related results that can be directly linked to DFID programmes and projects. It is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dfid-s-results-framework .

Nigeria

Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what recent steps her Department has taken to ensure a rapid humanitarian response for refugees displaced as a result of violence carried out by Boko Haram.

Mr Desmond Swayne: The UK has provided £1 million to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to deliver food, safe water, clothes, shelter material and other basic necessities to those people displaced following attacks by Boko Haram.   A further £1 million of UK funding is committed to the Nigerian Government’s “Safe Schools Initiative” to help protect children at school in North East Nigeria and provide schooling to children displaced by the violence. The UK has also contributed £1.7 million to the UN’s and EU’s relief efforts.

Nigeria

Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what discussions her Department has had with the Nigerian government about protection for humanitarian workers in northern Nigeria.

Mr Desmond Swayne: The UK is in regular dialogue with the Government of Nigeria about support to victims of Boko Haram. This includes protection for humanitarian workers in northern Nigeria.

South Sudan

Mary Creagh: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what support she is giving to the humanitarian response in South Sudan to avert the risk of famine.

Mary Creagh: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps she is taking to press the parties in the South Sudan conflict to protect civilians and allow unhindered humanitarian access.

Mary Creagh: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what plans she has to work with Cabinet colleagues towards a concerted global effect to restore peace in South Sudan by international investment in rebuilding hospitals, schools and livelihoods in addition to humanitarian aid and peacekeeping operations.

Justine Greening: Since the outbreak of fighting in December 2013, the UK has led the way in responding to the humanitarian crisis in South Sudan, providing more than £190m to the response in South Sudan (£132.5m for affected people inside South Sudan, and £58m for refugees in neighbouring countries).   The UK has been strongly urging all parties to allow humanitarian access and supports the renewed mandate of the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) and its focus on the Protection of Civilians.   We stand ready to provide further support to the crisis. Longer term development programmes in the areas of health, education and livelihoods also continue, protecting basic service delivery and supporting community resilience. Once a peace agreement is secured, the UK will work with our international partners to determine what other support may be required in a post conflict environment.

Overseas Aid

Mary Creagh: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, whether income received from returnable investments will be treated as negative overseas development assistance and deducted from that years contribution to the 0.7 per cent aid target.

Mary Creagh: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, in which financial year her Department expects to receive income from its returnable financial investments.

Justine Greening: All UK ODA is reported in line with the OECD’s Statistical Reporting Directives, including any income received.

Overseas Aid

Mary Creagh: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, when she plans to publish her Department's indicators for the strategic framework for economic development.

Justine Greening: Building on initial work, DFID is continuing to develop further results indicators to reflect economic development priorities and an update on progress is due by July 2015.

Nigeria

Mr David Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps her Department is taking to provide relief in those parts of Nigeria affected by the activities of Boko Haram.

Mr Desmond Swayne: The UK has provided £1 million to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to deliver food, safe water, clothes, shelter material and other basic necessities to those people displaced following attacks by Boko Haram.   A further £1 million of UK funding is committed to the Nigerian Government’s “Safe Schools Initiative” to help protect children at school in North East Nigeria and provide schooling to children displaced by the violence. The UK has also contributed £1.7 million to the UN’s and EU’s relief efforts.

Overseas Aid

Mary Creagh: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, pursuant to Question 220623, in what forms information on funding allocations of her Department's budget for the strategic framework for economic development is available.

Mary Creagh: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, pursuant to the Answer of 19 January 2015 to Question 220652, what proportion of the target £1.8 billion has been allocated to date for 2015-16; and to what that funding has been allocated.

Justine Greening: Part of this spend is attributed to ongoing projects. The remainder will be committed subject to Ministerial approval of individual business cases, ensuring value for money is being achieved in line with our £5m Ministerial sign-off policy.

Nigeria

John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what assistance her Department is offering to the Nigerian government in response to the recent actions of Boko Haram.

Mr Desmond Swayne: The UK has provided £1 million to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to deliver food, safe water, clothes, shelter material and other basic necessities to those people displaced following attacks by Boko Haram.   A further £1 million of UK funding is committed to the Nigerian Government’s “Safe Schools Initiative” to help protect children at school in North East Nigeria and provide schooling to children displaced by the violence. The UK has also contributed £1.7 million to the UN’s and EU’s relief efforts.

Nigeria

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps her Department takes to ensure that aid provided to Nigeria is not used by Boko Haram.

Mr Desmond Swayne: DFID has a zero tolerance approach to the misuse of aid and has a range of robust controls and measures in place to safeguard UK taxpayers’ money.

Private Infrastructure Development Group

Mary Creagh: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what monitoring of Private Infrastructure Development Group her Department undertakes to ensure value for money.

Mary Creagh: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what funding her Department provided to the Private Infrastructure Development Group in each of the last five years.

Justine Greening: Ensuring Value for Money is central to all of DFID’s work. Alongside robust monitoring arrangements there are stringent criteria on demonstrating clear need and anticipated development impact before any funds are released. In addition, all projects worth over £5m are now signed off by Ministers.   Funding to the Private Infrastructure Development Group in the last five years is as follows:  2013/14£148m2012/13£102m2011/12£93m2010/11£12m2009/10£21m

Department for Education

Schools: Radicalism

Stephen Barclay: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to paragraph 5.1.2 of the report of the Prime Minister's Task Force on Tackling Radicalisation and Extremism, published in December 2013, how many people have been barred from managing or teaching at independent schools because of involvement with or links to extremism under the new regulations.

Mr Edward Timpson: New regulations enabling the Secretary of State to bar individuals from taking part in the management of independent schools came into force in September 2014. A number of cases are under consideration.These regulations cover individuals involved in the management of independent schools rather than teachers. The Teachers’ Standards were amended in September 2012 to require that teachers uphold public trust in the profession by not undermining fundamental British values. The National College of Teaching and Leadership (NCTL) takes decisions on whether to bar individuals from teaching and guidance to teacher misconduct panels issued in July 2014 makes clear behaviour that promotes extremism is likely to be considered incompatible with being a teacher. Four individuals are currently subject to Interim Prohibition Orders by NCTL preventing them from teaching for reasons relating to extremism.We will investigate and take action wherever we find evidence of extremism.

Class Sizes

Mr David Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will bring forward legislative proposals to give local authorities responsibility to plan, commission and build facilities to tackle classroom overcrowding; and if she will make a statement.

Mr David Laws: Local authorities are responsible for planning and securing sufficient school places in their area.Supporting local authorities to create school places where they are needed most is one of the Department for Education’s main priorities. This is why we have committed £5 billion in capital funding between 2011 and 2015 to help local authorities create new school places. This is more than twice the £1.9 billion in the equivalent four year period 2007/8 to 2010/11. In addition, the Department has announced an additional £2.35 billion in capital funding to help create new school places that will be needed by September 2017, giving local authorities a three-year planning horizon.Local authorities can use this funding to expand any existing schools and can also run competitions to establish new schools.

Special Educational Needs

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department has a mechanism in place to be notified of instances when a local authority does not issue a final statement of special educational needs within the statutory time limit of 26 weeks.

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what guidance her Department provides to local authorities in instances when a local authority does not issue a final statement of special educational needs within the statutory time limit of 26 weeks.

Mr Edward Timpson: Data is collected annually from all local authorities on the numbers of final statements issued for children with special educational needs (SEN).Guidance to local authorities on the process and timescales for carrying out statutory SEN assessments and issuing final statements of SEN is provided in the 2001 ‘Special Educational Needs Code of Practice’ and the statutory timescales are also set out in ‘The Education (Special Educational Needs) (England) (Consolidation) Regulations 2001’.

Education: Greater Manchester

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 15 January 2015 to Question 220450, whether her Department is considering new sponsorship, governance or partnership agreements with another Academy for any of the schools in question; and if she will make a statement.

Mr Edward Timpson: In Tameside and Stockport the Regional Schools Commissioner (RSC) and officials continue to work closely with the academies where we have concerns to tackle underperformance and bring about rapid improvements. In Tameside, the RSC has been involved with one trust in the recruitment of new senior leaders including a School Improvement Director. The Department has also provided initial development funding to this trust so that they can source further support from the North West Teaching Schools Alliance. Both the RSC and officials are monitoring progress closely and will meet the trust again in February 2015 to discuss progress. For the other academies in Tameside and Stockport where we have concerns the RSC and officials are already in discussions with the trusts about sponsorship arrangements. We will not hesitate to intervene in academies where rapid, sustainable improvements are not being made and RSCs have a range of interventions at their disposal. These interventions include: challenging the trust, facilitating partnerships with higher performing schools, reviewing sponsorship arrangements and seeking an alternative sponsor solution where we do not believe an existing trust has the capacity to make improvements. More formal interventions can include a pre-warning notice or warning notice, an alternative sponsor solution or ultimately terminating the funding agreement. The performance is closely monitored via departmental officials. Officials continue to work closely with the trust and the governing body to provide challenge on the issues in question. Monitoring can include follow up visits to the school and monitoring progress via a scorecard.   The RSC in this case and departmental officials, on his behalf, will continue to work closely with the academy and its academy trust until such time as we are confident that the school is on a sustained upward trajectory.

Teachers: Mesothelioma

Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate she has made of the number of teachers and former teachers who have contracted mesothelioma from exposure to asbestos in schools.

Mr David Laws: The Department for Education is not aware of data that links the number of cases of mesothelioma contracted to occupation.The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) produces statistics about the link between mesothelioma related deaths and occupation, which the Department uses to inform its policy. The HSE statistics are published online at: www.hse.gov.uk/statistics/causdis/mesothelioma/mortality-by-occupation-2002-2010.pdf

Staff

Pamela Nash: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much her Department spent on (a) recruitment agency fees, (b) outplacement agency fees for displaced or redundant staff and (c) staff training in each of the last five years.

Mr Nick Gibb: The Department records centrally the total amount spent on recruitment, but this is not broken down between money spent on recruitment agencies, executive search consultants, advertising expenditure and other recruitment costs, so we are unable to provide this figure.   The table below shows spend on outplacement agency fees for displaced or redundant staff.   Financial yearTotal Spend2014 - 2015 to date£ 14,1752013 - 2014£ 18,2982012 - 2013£ nil2011- 2012£ nil2010 - 2011£ 7,657   The table below shows spend on staff training.   Financial YearTotal spend2014/15 to date£1.3m2013/14£2.2m2012/13£3.2m2011/12£2.1m2010/11£3.4m

Adoption: North West

Andrew Stephenson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many adoptions there were in (a) the North West, (b) Lancashire and (c) Pendle constituency in each of the last three years.

Mr Edward Timpson: The information requested is shown in the table below. This data is also published in Table LAE1 of the ‘Children looked after including adoption’ statistical first release. [1]Data for Pendle is not available as this data is not collected at parliamentary constituency level. Number of looked after children adopted during the year ending 31 March1Years ending 31 March 2012 to 2014 201220132014North West region590650770Lancashire local authority707585Source: SSDA9031. Regional totals have been rounded to the nearest 10. Other numbers have been rounded to the nearest 5.[1] www.gov.uk/government/statistics/children-looked-after-in-england-including-adoption--2

Ministry of Justice

Prisons: Training

Mr Andy Slaughter: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, which companies were contracted by his Department to provide training for (a) prisoners and (b) prison staff in each of the last five years; and what his Department's expenditure on companies contracted to train (i) prisoners and (ii) prison staff has been in each of the last five years.

Mr Andy Slaughter: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, which companies were contracted by his Department to provide training for (a) prisoners and (b) prison staff in each of the last five years; and what his Department's expenditure on companies contracted to train (i) prisoners and (ii) prison staff has been in each of the last five years.

Andrew Selous: Private Prisons: The price paid for running private prisons does not include a breakdown of costs for training. Private prison contractors are required to provide training for both prisoners and staff in line with Prison Service Instructions (PSIs) and Prison Service Orders (PSOs) as part of their contracts. Public Prisons: The companies that were contracted to provide training for prisoners in the last five years are: PERTEMPS PEOPLE DEVELOPMENT GROUPST GILES TRUSTTHE FOUNDATION TRAINING COMPANYTHE CLINK RESTAURANT COMPANYPRISON RADIO ASSOCIATIONSERCO GROUP PLCPERTEMPS PEOPLE DEVELOPMENT GROUPWORKING LINKSMERSEYSIDE PROBATION TRUSTLEICESTERSHIRE & RUTLAND PROBATION TRUSTLONDON PROBATION TRUSTWEST YORKSHIRE PROBATION TRUSTSOVATRIBAL GROUP PLCTHE MANCHESTER COLLEGEA4E CONSULTING LTDSOUTH YORKSHIRE PROBATION TRUSTTHE MERSEYSIDE COMMUNITY REHABILITATION COMPANYTHE WEST YORKSHIRE COMMUNITY REHABILITATION COMPANYTHE DERBYSHIRE LEICESTERSHIRE NOTTINGHAMSHIRE AND RUTLAND COMMUNITY REHABILITATION COMPANY The companies that were contracted to provide training for staff in the last five years are:The Fire Service CollegeRoffey park InstituteAshbourne assessmentsQA LtdRoyal Society for the Prevention of AccidentsCommon Purpose UKCity of Bristol CollegeBerkshire Consultancy LtdLearn Direct (was JHP Group Ltd)National Construction College (CITB-ConstructionSkills)RTW Training Services LtdLeeds College of BuildingCambridge UniversityBehavioural Measures UK LtdCQM Learning LtdCapita Total spend for prisoners training: 2009 / 102010 / 112011 / 122012 / 132013 / 14N/AN/A£40,852,860.56£28,545,826.02£26,224,572.48 Total spend for staff training: 2009 / 102010 / 112011 / 122012 / 132013 / 14£1,196,652.55£1,201,946.52£3,278,174.07£3,100,465.41£2,360,469.02 Spend above includes all spend with each of the suppliers listed above so may include some elements that are not purely training. There is a reduction in the amount spent on prisoners training between 2011 and 2014. The majority of the money for prisoner training comes from European Social funding (ESF). There was an overlap in 11/12 of two rounds of ESF funding which is reflected as a higher amount in the annual totals. NOMS funding remained relatively stable throughout the period at around £5m.  The cost of much education in prisons falls to the Department of Business Innovation and Skills

Prisoner Escapes

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many offences were committed by (a) escaped or (b) absconded prisoners in each year since 2010; and what those offences were.

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many prisoners have escaped from prison vans in each year since 2010; how many such prisoners remain on the run; of what offences each such prisoner was convicted; and what length of custodial sentence each such prisoner was given.

Andrew Selous: The number of escapes from custody has been falling since 1995 when central records began, despite an increasing prison population. Absconds have reached record lows under this Government, falling by more than 80 per cent in the last 10 years, but we have not been complacent. We have made major changes to tighten the system. Offenders who escape or abscond are an extremely small proportion of the almost 86,000 offenders in the prison system at the moment. To establish what offences were committed by escaped or absconded prisoners would require the examination of core records for each prisoner that had escaped or absconded since 2010. This could only be achieved at disproportionate cost. The table below shows the details of escapes occurring from prison escort vans between April 2010 and March 2014. The offence and sentence length is that recorded at the time of the escape. All prisoners who escaped from prison vans have subsequently been arrested and returned to custody. The table includes escorts conducted by contractors under the Prison Escort and Custody Services contract and HM Prison Service staff. Table 1: Escapes from prison vans between April 2010 and March 2014, by year. YearOffenceSentence at time of escape10/11Assault/arsonRemand11/12RobberyIPP11/12Possession of a firearmRemand11/12Possession of a firearm7 years11/12UnknownUnknown11/12AssaultRemand11/12Burglary54 Months11/12Supply class a drugsConvicted Unsentenced12/13BurglaryRemand12/13BurglaryUnknown13/14Robbery7 years 10 months13/14Robbery14 years13/14Aggravated burglaryUncategorised13/14BurglaryRemand Figures for the number of escapes since 1995 are provided in the Prison Digest contained in the Prison and Probation Trusts Performance Statistics. This can be found at:https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/prison-and-probation-trusts-performance-statistics-201314

Electronic Tagging

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many times officials and Ministers in his Department have had meetings with companies that were interested in bidding for the electronic monitoring contract.

Andrew Selous: The Department does not hold a comprehensive record of how many such meetings took place. Prior to the competition for replacement electronic monitoring services we engaged the market widely, meeting interested parties in a series of sessions to consider the opportunities presented by emerging technology. Once the competition was under way, following publication of the OJEU contract notice in February 2012, the Department held various meetings with suppliers selected as bidders and preferred bidders, including negotiations as part of the competition.

Secure Accommodation: Scotland

Cathy Jamieson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what recent discussions he has had with the Scottish Government on the accommodation of young people from Scotland in secure units in England.

Cathy Jamieson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, in which secure units young people ordinarily resident in Scotland have been accommodated in each of the last five years.

Andrew Selous: The Youth Justice Board (YJB) are responsible for placing young people under 18 years of age in custody in England and Wales, and make every effort to place them as close to home as possible. The appropriate placement of young people into the secure estate is undertaken on a case-by-case basis and is based upon a combination of factors unique to each young person entering custody.  According to the most recent snapshot of data held by the National Offenders Management Service (NOMS), taken in September 2014, there was one young person ordinarily resident in Scotland being accommodated in an under-18 Young Offender Institution in England and Wales. Information about where this young person was held cannot be disclosed as this could possibly result in the identification of the offender, which could lead to a potential breach of the Data Protection Act. In snapshots taken each September between 2010 and 2013, there were no young people ordinarily resident in Scotland being accommodated in under-18s Young Offender Institutions in England and Wales. There is no data held for Secure Children’s Homes and Secure Training Centres. There have been no recent discussions between the Secretary of State and the Scottish Government on the accommodation of young people from Scotland in the youth secure estate in England.

Secure Accommodation: Scotland

Cathy Jamieson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people ordinarily resident in Scotland have been accommodated in secure units in England in each of the last five years.

Andrew Selous: The following table shows the number of male and female prisoners held in prisons or young offender institutions, who have a reported home address in Scotland in each September since 2010. Number of male and female prisoners who have a reported home address in Scotland, in each September since 2010. 201020112012201320149510898112111 Information on offenders is provided by them on reception in prison and recorded on a central IT system. Reported addresses can include a home address, an address to which offenders intend to return on discharge or the address of their next of kin. No address has been reported and no court information is available for around 3% of all offenders and therefore these figures are excluded from the answer. Note: secure units are defined here as prisons and young offender institutions in England and Wales. Information on individuals held in secure training centres, secure children’s homes and in secure mental health units are not included in this answer.

Terrorism

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the (a) offence and (b) sentencing outcome of each terrorist-related offence dealt with in court was in the last five years.

Mike Penning: This Government takes terrorism offences extremely seriously, which is why there are tough sentences available to the courts. We are further strengthening the law in this area through the Criminal Justice and Courts Bill, currently going through Parliament. We are increasing the maximum sentence from 10 or 14 years to a life sentence for three specific terror offences - weapons training for terrorist purposes, other training for terrorism, and making or possession of explosives. We are also ending automatic early release for those convicted of a range of serious terror offences - including weapons training for terrorist purposes and directing a terrorist organisation – so that they will only be released before the end of their custodial term at the discretion of the independent Parole Board, who must be satisfied that they no longer pose a threat to society. We are also ensuring that terrorists convicted of a second very serious offence will face the 'two-strikes' automatic life' sentence. Data for terrorist related offences and sentence outcomes can be viewed in Tables C.01-C.04 at the below link:- https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/operation-of-police-powers-under-the-terrorism-act-2000-quarterly-update-to-june-2014-data-tables Findings of guilt includes crimes which have a terrorist link.

Prisoners: Foreign Nationals

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many foreign national prisoners from each country were convicted of each offence type from September 2013 to September 2014.

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 25 November 2014 to Question 214859, how many foreign national prisoners from each country were convicted of each offence in the violence offence group from April 2013 to March 2014.

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, in what circumstances a foreign criminal serving a prison sentence for an offence committed outside the UK could serve their sentence in the UK.

Andrew Selous: International prisoner transfer arrangements may enable non-nationals to apply to transfer to their state of normal residence or to the state to which they have close ties. There is no requirement on a state to accept the transfer of a non-national resident. Since 2010, no such transfers have taken place to England and Wales. Prisoner transfer is a devolved matter and is the responsibility of the relevant Minister in Scotland and in Northern Ireland. The numbers of foreign national prisoners from each country convicted of each offence in the violence offence group from April 2013 to March 2014 are in the attached table 1. The numbers of foreign national prisoners from each country, convicted of each offence type from 1 October 2013 to 31 March 2014 are at the attached table 2. Prison receptions data for April to June 2014 is not available by offence group due to problems with data quality. Figures for this period will be published in due course subject to the result of ongoing investigations. Prison receptions data for July to September 2014 is currently not available and is due to be published on 29 January 2015. The number of foreign national offenders in our prisons has reduced since 2010, compared to that number doubling between 1997 – 2010.



Number of prisoners sentenced
(Excel SpreadSheet, 37.5 KB)




Number of prison receptions
(Excel SpreadSheet, 53 KB)

Prisoners: State Retirement Pensions

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many prisoners had reached the state pension age (a) on the latest date and (b) during the most recent year for which information is available.

Andrew Selous: The number of prisoners of state pensionable age on 30 September 2014 was 2221. In the year to 30 September 2014, 262 prisoners reached state pensionable age. Further information can be found in the National Offender Management Service Offender Equalities Annual Report 2013/14 the link to which is below. https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/380129/noms-offender-equalities-annual-report-2013-14.pdf

Prisoners

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many prisoners are currently serving sentences in the UK that were (a) handed down by the International Criminal Court or (b) heard at the Hague.

Andrew Selous: One prisoner convicted and sentenced at The Hague by the Special Court for Sierra Leone is serving his sentence in the United Kingdom. There are no prisoners serving sentences in the UK which were handed down by the International Criminal Court.

Knives: Crime

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many and what proportion of those convicted of a knife crime offence were sentenced to prison for (a) up to six months, (b) up to and (c) over 12 months in the last 12 months.

Mike Penning: Knives on our streets are a social scourge. Unlawful possession of a knife or offensive weapon is already a serious criminal offence (which carries a maximum 4 year custodial sentence). We are building on that to send a clear and unequivocal message that those who use a knife or offensive weapon to threaten another person are behaving in a wholly unacceptable manner and can expect an automatic custodial sentence. This Government introduced the offences of threatening with a knife or offensive weapon in public or in a school. And last year, the Government made changes to the Simple Cautions Guidance issued to police to restrict the use of cautions for certain offences, including knife possession, in all but exceptional circumstances. The Ministry of Justice is also legislating on these changes within the Criminal Justice and Courts Bill, to make it absolutely clear that cautions should no longer be used for serious offences such as those involving a knife or offensive weapon. Within the sentencing framework, it is for judges and magistrates to decide the appropriate sentence in individual cases taking account of the harm the offence caused and the culpability of the offender. Under the Coroners and Justice Act 2009, there is an obligation on courts, when sentencing for offences, to follow the guidelines issued by the Sentencing Council, unless it would be contrary to the interests of justice to do so. The Ministry of Justice does not hold information disaggregating crimes committed using a knife, as opposed to violent offences committed via other means. However, detailed figures relating to knife and offensive weapon possession are published on a quarterly basis, the latest version of which is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/knife-possession-sentencing-quarterly-brief-july-to-september-2014

Assaults on Police

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people were convicted of assaulting a police officer in the last year for which figures are available; and what proportion of those people received a prison sentence.

Mike Penning: We take threats or violence towards police officers seriously, and there are tough sentences available for the most serious violent offences. The specific offence of an assault on a police constable in the execution of his duty is a summary only offence carrying a maximum penalty of six months’ imprisonment. Sentencing guidelines issued by the independent Sentencing Council provide for custody to be the starting point in the most serious cases. It is important to emphasise, however, that this offence is likely to be the appropriate charge only where there is no injury or injuries which are not serious. Where there has been a more serious assault the perpetrator would be charged with a more serious offence such as assault occasioning actual bodily harm, which carry long prison sentences. These are not included in the statistics provided. Sentencing in individual cases is a matter for our independent judiciary, taking account of the circumstances of the case and the maximum penalty for the offence. The number of people convicted of assaulting a police officer, in England and Wales, 2013 (latest data available) can be viewed in table below. Number of people found guilty for offence relating to Assault on a constable , England & Wales, 2013(1)(2)Offence 2013 Found Guilty 7,829 Immediate custody 1,002 Custody rate (6) 13% (1) The figures given in the table relate to persons for whom these offences were the principal offences for which they were dealt with. When a defendant has been found guilty of two or more offences it is the offence for which the heaviest penalty is imposed. Where the same disposal is imposed for two or more offences, the offence selected is the offence for which the statutory maximum penalty is the most severe.(2) Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts and police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used.(3) The proportion of offenders sentenced who are sentenced to immediate custody.Source: Justice Statistics Analytical Services - Ministry of Justice.   PQ 220998

Sexual offences: Reoffenders

Mrs Emma Lewell-Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the reoffending rate was for sex offenders whose original conviction was for sexual offences against children in the most recent period for which figures are available.

Andrew Selous: The one year proven re-offending rate for offenders convicted of sexual offences against children for the 2012 period (the latest data available) was 8.5%. A proven re-offence is defined as any offence committed in a one year follow-up period and receiving a court conviction, caution, reprimand or warning in the one year follow-up. Following this one year period, a further six month waiting period is allowed for cases to progress through the courts. The National Offender Management Service (NOMS) has established a Sex Offender Management Board to coordinate the better management of sex offenders across the system, including the provision of treatment programmes in custody. All high risk sex offenders and Multi Agency Public Protection Arrangements (MAPPA) cases will be managed by the public sector National Probation Service (NPS).

Confiscation Orders

Chris Leslie: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what types of offence resulted in confiscation orders being made in 2012-13; and how much was collected as a result of those orders.

Mike Penning: The table below shows the primary offence type for all confiscation orders made between 01/04/2012 and 31/03/2013 and the current amount paid against those impositions as of 16/01/2015. The ‘Amount Paid’ does not include any sums of interest that may have been collected on those orders. Primary Offence TypeAmount PaidArms Trafficking£ 2,274.00Bribery and Corruption£ 724.00Burglary / Theft£ 5,178,518.99Counterfeiting / Intellectual Property / Forgery£ 3,482,693.99Drug Trafficking£ 27,142,467.06Excise Duty Fraud£ 1,250,612.62Handling Stolen Goods£ 778,521.81Intellectual Property Crime£ 390,863.43Money Laundering - Drugs£ 8,183,885.75Money Laundering - Other£ 18,291,592.71Other Crime£ 8,045,149.97Other Fraud / Embezzlement / Deception / Crimes of dishonesty£ 22,650,449.84People Trafficking£ 281,589.31Pimps and Brothels / Prostitution / Pornography£ 965,260.92Robbery£ 167,503.53Tax and Benefit Fraud£ 9,078,615.86Terrorism£ 39,945.15Trading Standards Offences£ 435,591.73Unknown£ 125,986.91VAT Fraud£ 10,548,046.91Vehicle Offences£ 917,892.02Grand Total£ 117,958,186.51  Confiscation orders are one of the key mechanisms available to the Government to deprive criminals of the proceeds of their crimes. They are based on the notional benefit attributed to the crime and may, therefore, exceed the value of realisable assets that are known to the Court at the time of imposition. Crucially, an order that is outstanding stops the criminal benefitting from the proceeds of crime and ensures that, if assets are discovered in the future, they can be seized. HM Courts and Tribunals Service (HMCTS) and other agencies involved in confiscation order enforcement take the recovery of criminal assets very seriously and are working to ensure that clamping down on defaulters is a continued priority. The amount defendants repaid from their criminal activity across all agencies has increased for the last five consecutive years and we are currently on course to have another highly effective year. £137.2million was collected in 2013/14 (which represented a 4% increase on the total recovered during 2012/13); as at the end of December 2014, £113 million had been recovered, which is an increase of 10% on the same period last year.

Offenders: Foreign Nationals

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will commission research to establish the main reasons foreign offenders commit offences in the UK.

Andrew Selous: Whereas the number of foreign national offenders in our prisons have more than doubled between 1997 – 2010, that trend has been reversed by this Government. We already collect data on offence types per nationality and have good understanding of the types of offences committed by foreign national offenders. We are not planning further research into the reasons foreign offenders commit offences in the UK.

Sentencing

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many and what proportion of offenders were sentenced to a custodial sentence for each offence by each magistrates' court in the latest year for which figures are available.

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many offenders were sentenced to a custodial sentence of 12 months or less for each offence by each Crown Court in the latest year for which figures are available.

Mike Penning: The information you have requested cannot be extracted from our raw data due to the extensive nature of what you have requested. I will therefore write to my honourable Friend as soon as it is available.

Civil Disorder: Greater London

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many and what proportion of offenders given custodial sentences for offences committed during the public disorder in London in August 2011 were given terms of imprisonment of 12 months or less.

Mike Penning: Sentencing in individual cases is a matter for our independent judiciary, taking account all of the circumstances of the case. Numerous offences were committed during the disorder including theft, criminal damage, burglary and various disorder offences but most commonly violent disorder. As of 10 August 2012, of the 2,138 persons sentenced, 1,396 (65 per cent) were sentenced at the Crown Court, of which 1,137 (81 per cent) received immediate custodial sentences with an average custodial sentence length (ACSL) of 19.6 months. This compares to an ACSL of 11.3 months for offenders committed for sentence at the Crown Court for similar offences in England and Wales 2010. The latest available data shows that the number of offenders given a custodial sentence of 12 months or less for offences committed during the public disorder in London in August 2011 was 640.

Segregation of Prisoners

Mr Andy Slaughter: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people in each prison in England and Wales were segregated in each of the last three years.

Andrew Selous: Prisoners are segregated as a last resort and for the shortest time necessary for reasons of good order and discipline or for their own protection. While segregated, prisoners are subject to a number of mandatory safeguards designed to ensure their safety and well being. Prisoners will be returned to normal location as soon as it is safe to do so. Figures recording the number of prisoners who have been placed in segregation are not held centrally and could only be provided at disproportionate cost by collating the information from records held locally at each prison.

Procurement

Mr Andy Slaughter: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he is taking to ensure that the successful bidder for Compliance and Enforcement Service Project offers value for money.

Mike Penning: The final bids submitted by the remaining three bidders on 5 January 2015 for the competition for Compliance and Enforcement Services are going through a robust evaluation process and HMCTS will award the contract based upon the bidder which submits the most economically advantageous tender. The evaluation criteria takes into account price and non price factors and the overall achievability and financial viability of the bids. In addition to this the agreement that will be put in place with the selected service provider will deliver value for money through a combination of the payment mechanism which incorporates a Payment By Results element based upon performance, Key Performance Indicators and penalties for underperformance.

Town Halls: Fenton

Robert Flello: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, when the next meeting between officials of his Department, Urban Vision and Stoke-on-Trent City Council to discuss Fenton Town Hall will take place.

Robert Flello: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, on how many occasions officials from his Department have met (a) Urban Vision and (b) Stoke-on-Trent City Council to discuss Fenton Town Hall in the last three months.

Mike Penning: Ministry of Justice officials met, including telephone conferences, with Urban Vision on one occasion and with Stoke on Trent City Council on three occasions in the last three months. There are no further meetings scheduled to take place. The MoJ is now in commercial discussions for the sale of the property to a private bidder. Members of the community in Stoke-on-Trent have made their views on the court building clear to us, and we have engaged in constructive dialogue with Urban Vision as they developed their business case. Following those discussions, we offered to transfer ownership of the building to Stoke-on-Trent City Council, for a peppercorn rate so they could work with Urban Vision and others on the long term future of the building. Unfortunately the council has declined that offer and sadly now we will be looking to sell the court. We were keen to explore solutions that suited the community but we have a duty to get best value for the taxpayer when disposing of surplus property and this building had been empty for over two years. We will be paying for three of the war memorials to be carefully relocated to the nearby Fenton Christ Church. There will be a legal duty for whoever buys the building to preserve the Minton Memorial which cannot be safely moved.

Prime Minister

Wind Power

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Prime Minister, with reference to his oral evidence to the Liaison Committee of 16 December 2014, HC887, if he will publish the evidential basis for his statement that 10 per cent of UK electricity coming from onshore wind is enough as part of a balanced energy supply; and if he will make a statement.

Mr David Cameron: The UK needs 11-13GW of onshore wind to meet the UK’s renewable energy targets affordably (as set out in DECC’s December 2013 Renewable Energy Roadmap). 7.8GW of onshore wind capacity has already been built, 1.5GW was under construction, and 5.3GW of onshore wind already had planning consent in September 2014. There is therefore more than enough onshore wind already consented to meet the 2020 Renewable Energy Targets.

Ministry of Defence

Armed Forces: Young People

Mrs Madeleine Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to his letter to the Defence Committee of 1 August 2014, whether the cost-benefit analysis of the recruitment of minors was based on (a) the final analysis or (b) the draft cost-benefit analysis; and if he will make a statement.

Anna Soubry: Holding answer received on 25 November 2014






An error has been identified in the written answer given on 27 November 2014.The correct answer should have been:

The figures used in my right hon. Friend the Defence Secretary's letter of 1 August 2014 to the Defence Committee were taken from the final version of the cost-benefit analysis.The report has been finalised and a copy is attached. 


Army Junior Entry Training Cost Benefit Alaysis
(Word Document, 589 KB)




Army Foundation College Supervisory Care Directive
(Word Document, 148 KB)




Army Junior Entry Training Cost Benefit Analysis
(Word Document, 544 KB)

Anna Soubry: Holding answer received on 25 November 2014



The figures used in my right hon. Friend the Defence Secretary's letter of 1 August 2014 to the Defence Committee were taken from the final version of the cost-benefit analysis.The report has been finalised and a copy is attached. 


Army Junior Entry Training Cost Benefit Alaysis
(Word Document, 589 KB)




Army Foundation College Supervisory Care Directive
(Word Document, 148 KB)




Army Junior Entry Training Cost Benefit Analysis
(Word Document, 544 KB)

Armed Forces: Young People

Mrs Madeleine Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to the letter of 1 August 2014 to the Defence Committee, whether his Department's cost-benefit analysis of the recruitment of minors has been finalised; and if he will make a statement.

Anna Soubry: Holding answer received on 25 November 2014






An error has been identified in the written answer given on 27 November 2014.The correct answer should have been:

The figures used in my right hon. Friend the Defence Secretary's letter of 1 August 2014 to the Defence Committee were taken from the final version of the cost-benefit analysis.The report has been finalised and a copy is attached. 


Army Junior Entry Training Cost Benefit Alaysis
(Word Document, 589 KB)




Army Foundation College Supervisory Care Directive
(Word Document, 148 KB)

Anna Soubry: Holding answer received on 25 November 2014



The figures used in my right hon. Friend the Defence Secretary's letter of 1 August 2014 to the Defence Committee were taken from the final version of the cost-benefit analysis.The report has been finalised and a copy is attached. 


Army Junior Entry Training Cost Benefit Alaysis
(Word Document, 589 KB)




Army Foundation College Supervisory Care Directive
(Word Document, 148 KB)

Armed Forces: Recruitment

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much his Department spent on television recruitment campaigns for (a) the Army, (b) the Royal Navy, (c) the Royal Air Force and (d) in total in the last 12 months.

Mr Julian Brazier: Holding answer received on 24 November 2014






An error has been identified in the written answer given on 18 December 2014.The correct answer should have been:

The table below shows how much each of the three Services has spent on television recruitment campaigns for the current and last two financial years. Financial Year/Service 2012-13£ million2013-14 £ million2014-15£ millionRoyal Navy2.801.864.452.95*6.79*Army2.99**1.281.75(to 31 August 2014)Royal Air Force2.252.673.37   * Forecast** From 1 October 2012 to 31 March 2013 The Department has not incurred any costs in respect of television recruitment for civilian staff.

Mr Julian Brazier: Holding answer received on 24 November 2014



The table below shows how much each of the three Services has spent on television recruitment campaigns for the current and last two financial years. Financial Year/Service 2012-13£ million2013-14 £ million2014-15£ millionRoyal Navy2.801.864.452.95*6.79*Army2.99**1.281.75(to 31 August 2014)Royal Air Force2.252.673.37   * Forecast** From 1 October 2012 to 31 March 2013 The Department has not incurred any costs in respect of television recruitment for civilian staff.

Armed Forces: Young People

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 28 October 2014 to Question 211635, what progress he has made on reviewing the cost-benefit analysis of the recruitment and training of minors; and when he plans to publish that report.

Anna Soubry: Holding answer received on 26 November 2014






An error has been identified in the written answer given on 27 November 2014.The correct answer should have been:

The figures used in my right hon. Friend the Defence Secretary's letter of 1 August 2014 to the Defence Committee were taken from the final version of the cost-benefit analysis.The report has been finalised and a copy is attached. 


Army Junior Entry Training Cost Benefit Alaysis
(Word Document, 589 KB)




Army Foundation College Supervisory Care Directive
(Word Document, 148 KB)




Army Junior Entry Training Cost Benefit Alalysis
(Word Document, 544 KB)

Anna Soubry: Holding answer received on 26 November 2014



The figures used in my right hon. Friend the Defence Secretary's letter of 1 August 2014 to the Defence Committee were taken from the final version of the cost-benefit analysis.The report has been finalised and a copy is attached. 


Army Junior Entry Training Cost Benefit Alaysis
(Word Document, 589 KB)




Army Foundation College Supervisory Care Directive
(Word Document, 148 KB)




Army Junior Entry Training Cost Benefit Alalysis
(Word Document, 544 KB)

Afghanistan

Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what recent representations he has made to his counterpart in the government of Afghanistan on ensuring that adequate training is available to national security forces following the UK's withdrawal of military personnel from combat roles in that country.

Mr Mark Francois: As part of the broader NATO mission, the UK is delivering on its commitment to continue to support the Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF). The UK has taken the lead at the Afghan National Army Officer Academy, where we are helping the Afghans to take control of developing their next generation of military leaders and sustain progress in building a capable and professional force. We are also providing advisors to the Afghan Security Ministries and have committed £70 million per year until at least 2017 to support ANSF development.

Military Decorations

Sir Hugh Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 15 January 2015 to Question 220486, how Royal Navy and Army personnel who served with the UN High Commissioner for Refugees detachment in Sarajevo can claim the UN Special Service Medal.

Mr Mark Francois: Eligible Service personnel can no longer claim the UN Special Service Medal. The eligibility for this medal commenced on 3 July 1992 and ran until 12 January 1996. Applications for this medal could only be made within 12 months of leaving theatre.

Reserve Forces: Recruitment

Ann McKechin: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether the Scottish Government will participate in the One per cent Challenge for recruitment of reservists.

Mr Julian Brazier: The Scottish Government is participating in the "Civil Service Reserves 1% Challenge" which seeks to raise awareness amongst civil servants of the opportunities in the Reserves and encourage more to join.

Department for Work and Pensions

Work Programme

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what plans he has to improve employment support for Work Programme participants claiming employment and support allowance who have a 12 month prognosis of a return to work.

Esther McVey: The Work Programme performance is improving for Employment and Support Allowance claimants with a 12 month prognosis, but we do want it to do better. To this end we have asked all providers to come to us with a clear plan setting out the steps they are going to take to improve performance further. Of those completing a year on the programme, 1 in 10 ESA New Claimants have had at least three months in work since joining the scheme – this compares to 1 in 25 for the earliest cohorts.

Work Programme

Grahame M. Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the need for specialist support within the Work Programme for people with mental health problems in receipt of employment and support allowance; and if he will make a statement.

Esther McVey: Support for those with mental health issues is being actively addressed as part of the Department’s on-going commitment to ensuring best possible support for all claimants. The Department set up an independently chaired group to share best practice amongst our providers and sub-contractors. The Building Best Practice Report published in December 2014, includes a focus on supporting the harder to help. We have already begun to implement many of the recommendations. Details of the Building Best Practice Report and the Department’s response to it can be found through the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/work-programme-building-best-practice-report

Social Security Benefits: Disqualification

Grahame M. Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether his Department or local and district management set any numerical targets, expectations, aims or benchmarks set for Labour Market Decision Makers for the number of sanction referrals that should result in a sanction being applied.

Esther McVey: There are no benchmarks or targets for the number of referrals resulting in a sanction being applied.

Jobseeker's Allowance: Scotland

Dr Eilidh Whiteford: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many claimants of jobseeker's allowance in Scotland have (a) received a sanction and (b) disputed a sanction in each month of (i) 2013-14 and (ii) 2014-15 by month; and how many such claimants had a sanction overturned as a result of it being reconsidered or appealed.

Dr Eilidh Whiteford: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many claimants of Employment and Support Allowance in Scotland have (a) received a sanction and (b) disputed a sanction in each month of (i) 2013-14 and (ii) 2014-15 by month; and how many such claimants had a sanction overturned as a result of it being reconsidered or appealed.

Esther McVey: The Department publishes Official Statistics on Jobseekers Allowance (JSA) and Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) sanction decisions and information on these statistics can be found here:https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/jobseekers-allowance-sanctions The latest set of Official Statistics was released on 12 November 2014 and covers all decisions made to 30 June 2014. A summary of this data can be found here:https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/jobseekers-allowance-and-employment-and-support-allowance-sanctions-decisions-made-to-june-2014 These statistics contain a wide set of geographical areas, sanction reason, sanctions appeals and outcomes and if required this information can be extracted using Stat-Xplore via the following link:https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/ Guidance on how to extract the information required from Stat-Xplore can be found at:https://sw.stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/webapi/online-help/Stat-Xplore_User_Guide.htm Please note that these official statistics do not contain data on mandatory reconsiderations, which must occur before a claimant can appeal to Her Majesty’s Court and Tribunal Service (HMCTS). Mandatory reconsiderations were introduced in October 2013. Mandatory reconsiderations are recorded on a separate administrative system and work is underway to incorporate data from this system into these official statistics.

Universal Credit

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether any people claiming universal credit are subject to in-work conditionality.

Esther McVey: The Department for Work and Pensions has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Self-employed: Females

Gloria De Piero: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the average weekly earnings were for self-employed women in each year since 2002-03.

Esther McVey: The Department for Work and Pensions has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Winter Fuel Payments: France

Sir Roger Gale: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, on what basis the French Southern and Antarctic Lands, Saint Pierre and Miquelon, Saint Barthélemy, French Polynesia, Wallis and Futuna and New Caledonia are excluded from his calculations for the purposes of establishing the average mean winter temperature for France in connection with winter fuel payments.

Steve Webb: The French Government and European Union law makes a distinction between the pays et territoires d’outre-mer (PTOM) and the départements d’outre mer (DOMs). The PTOM include Saint-Pierre and Miquelon, Saint Barthélémy, French Polynesia, Wallis and Futuna and New Caledonia. These territories benefit from association with the EU but community law does not generally apply. With the exception of Saint- Barthélémy they have their own social protection schemes and are legally and financially autonomous. UK Winter Fuel Payments are not paid to residents in the PTOMs. The French Government treats its DOMs as integral parts of the French State and they are subject to the application of EU social security co-ordination regulations. Winter Fuel Payments are payable to residents in the DOMs, however this will end from September 2015.

Self-employed: Industrial Health and Safety

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate he has made of how much time per year self-employed workers spend on fulfilling regulatory health and safety obligations.

Mr Mark Harper: The Health and Safety Executive has carried out a limited qualitative survey of self-employed workers. Only those self-employed individuals in occupations where we expect them to be exempt under proposals to exempt certain self employed persons from section 3(2) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 responded. The best estimate is one hour per individual.

Universal Credit

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, when he expects the Major Projects Authority to provide its next assessment of the universal credit project.

Mr Mark Harper: The responsibility for the frequency and timing of formal assessments of HM Government Programmes sits with the Major Projects Authority in Cabinet Office.

Universal Credit

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 19 January 2015 to Question 220704, how large the control group will be in the proposed randomised control trial for universal credit in work progression; for how long that trial is planned to run; how progression in the two groups will be measured; and if he will make a statement.

Esther McVey: Based upon current Universal Credit roll-out plans we expect the trial to run through to 2016 and involve at least 15,000 Universal Credit claimants, of which the control group will comprise approximately 5,000 claimants. We are currently finalising the trial design and evaluation strategy.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

White Fish: Ireland

George Hollingbery: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent discussions she has had with her Irish counterparts on the management of sea bass stocks.

George Hollingbery: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether she has received the report Bass Discards published by the Irish Bass Group; and if she will make a statement.

George Hollingbery: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what reports she has received on the Irish government's views on a total ban on commercial fishing for sea bass.

George Hollingbery: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what information her Department holds on levels of by-catch of sea bass in other fisheries in Irish waters in the last three years.

George Hollingbery: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what reports she has received on the Irish government's policy for the management of sea bass stocks in their territorial waters.

George Eustice: I met the Irish Minister in the margins of the European Union Agriculture and Fisheries Council of 15-16 December to discuss key fisheries items on the Council agenda including management of sea bass stocks.Under longstanding Irish national measures to protect bass stocks their commercial fishing vessels are not permitted to land bass for sale, which means a degree of discarding of bass by-catch from mixed fishing activity will occur. I have not, however, seen the Bass Discards report published by the Irish Bass Group.

Genetically Modified Organisms: Crops

Mr Michael Meacher: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when she expects commercial planting of GM crops to begin in England and Wales.

Dan Rogerson: We are not expecting commercial GM planting here for a few years at least. There are no types of GM crop seed in the current pipeline for EU approval that are likely to be marketed and grown in the UK.

Fracking

Dr Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, for what reason her Department's internal report on the impact of fracking on rural communities has been made public only in redacted form; what the criteria are for imposing such redactions; and if she will make it her policy to publish the report in full.

Dan Rogerson: I refer the hon. Member to the reply given to the hon. Member for Bassetlaw, John Mann, on 11 September 2014, Official Report, column 723W.

White Fish: Ireland

Angela Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recorded number of sea bass were discarded in the (a) Irish and (b) Celtic Sea by Irish vessels in each of the last five years.

Angela Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recorded number of sea bass was discarded in the (a) Irish and (b) Celtic Sea by UK registered vessels in each of the last five years.

George Eustice: Under long standing Irish national measures to protect bass stocks their commercial fishing vessels are not permitted to land bass for sale, which means a degree of discarding of bass by-catch from mixed fishing activity will occur. We have no data available to us, however, on the level of such discards by Irish vessels.For UK vessels we have discard estimates for the last five years combined for the Irish and Celtic Seas. These relate to otter trawlers, netters and beam trawlers, based on the numbers of sampled trips (see table (b)). We do not sample hook and line boats although these report a sizeable fraction of bass landings in these areas, as survival rates for discarded bass from commercial rod-and line or hand-line boats (under 10 metre inshore vessels) are considered potentially relatively high.(a) Numbers (thousands) and weight (tonnes) landed and discarded for sampled fleets (otter, nets, beam) in Irish and Celtic Seas, raised to fleet landings for each gear, based on at-sea observer sampling by the Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science (Cefas).Number '000s20092010201120122013MeanLanded483629393036Discarded89101048% discarded142025211118   Tonnes20092010201120122013MeanLanded1075871948082Discarded334623% discarded355624 (b) Number of trips sampled, Irish and Celtic SeasNo. trips sampled20092010201120122013TotalBeam trawls1 1  2Netters4416121046Otter trawls232021211297Grand Total2824383322145

White Fish: Conservation

Angela Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what level of fishing mortality reduction her Department considers sufficient for the conservation and recovery of sea bass stocks.

George Eustice: The advice from the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) in 2014 was that fishing mortality for sea bass should be reduced by 61%. Measures currently under discussion for introduction this year need to make substantial progress towards this objective.

Plastic Bags

Dr Julian Huppert: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will make an assessment of the merits of introducing an exemption for compostable plastic bags from the single use carrier bag charge; and if she will meet representatives from the compostable plastic bags industry to discuss such an exemption.

Dan Rogerson: The draft legislation on the carrier bag charge includes a requirement to review existing standards for the biodegradability of lightweight plastic material. The review will report to Parliament by 5 October this year on whether there is an appropriate industry standard for an exemption from the charge, and if so, how it would be implemented. Industry and academic experts are working with the Department on this review. The Government is looking for a standard that will tackle biodegradability in different littered environments as well as in managed waste streams. The composting industry is represented on the Stakeholder Advisory Group and we will be taking account of their views along with those of other stakeholders.

Department for Communities and Local Government

Directors

Mrs Sharon Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many members of his Department's executive board are (a) male and (b) female.

Mrs Sharon Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many members of his Department's executive board are disabled.

Mrs Sharon Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many members of his Department's executive board are (a) white British and (b) from any other ethnic background.

Kris Hopkins: The executive and non executive members of the Department’s management board are listed at: https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/department-for-communities-and-local-government/groups/dclg-management-board Disability is a self declaration and none of the members of the Department’s management board have declared themselves disabled.

Right to Buy Scheme

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how much his Department has spent on marketing in relation to the Right to Buy scheme in London in each year since 2010.

Brandon Lewis: Holding answer received on 05 January 2015



This Government is committed to supporting home ownership, and giving a helping hand to social tenants to move up the housing ladder. But our reinvigorated Right to Buy can only be exercised by eligible tenants if they know about it. It is also important that social tenants have sufficient information about their rights to make an informed decision, and to ensure that home ownership is the right choice for them in light of their financial circumstances.Precise figures on spending in London cannot be disaggregated from the national Right to Buy campaign. We can identify £378,393 of spending in 2012-13 and £68,500 in 2013-14; there was no London-specific spending in 2010-11 or 2011-12. Figures for 2014-15 are not yet available.I appreciate that the Labour Party in London has effectively called for the Right to Buy to be abolished, and will oppose social tenants being informed. Such are the enemies of aspiration. The Right to Buy improves social mobility and helps build mixed communities. As well as increasing home ownership and supporting new build construction (from replacement affordable homes), it gives something back to families who have worked hard, paid their rent and played by the rules. It allows buyers to do up their home, change their front door, improve their garden – without getting permission from the council. It gives people a sense of pride and ownership not just in their home, but in their street and neighbourhood.Total national spending was £0 in 2010-11, £17,728 in 2011-12, £1.4 million in 2012-13 and £1.0 million in 2013-14. To place our information campaigns in context, DCLG has cut spending on marketing and advertising from £9.9 million in 2009-10 to £2.0 million in 2013-14.The rt. hon. Member is a former Minister in this Department, so will be well acquainted with communications activity under the last Labour Government, such as departmental spending of: £1.1 million a year on external public relations, despite having 103 in-house communications officers;£15,000 on plugging the “Sustainable Communities summit” that was subsequently cancelled;£1 million on marketing and public relations for eco-towns, despite the fact not a single house was ever built;£3,520 on re-naming Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Fire Services to the Chief Fire and Rescue Adviser, during one of New Labour’s republican phases of purging public references to the Monarchy;£38,200 on sock puppet lobbyists, LLM Communications, astro-turfing friends for the friendless Regional Spatial Strategies;£1,371 on re-branding of John Prescott’s ‘Office of the Deputy Prime Minister’ to the cut-price and pointless ‘Deputy Prime Minister's Office’;£3,830 on the subsequent logo for the new Department for Communities and Local Government, followed by burning a further £24,765 on dropping the “D” and renaming it “Communities and Local Government”, despite being neither, in a futile attempt to sound achingly trendy.We run a tighter ship. Right to Buy and the Fire Kills campaign are now the two primary campaigns we run, and both have a clear public benefit, in strong contrast to the culture of spin and excess in the spendthrift Labour years.

Merseyside

Mr Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how much of his Department's budget was allocated to (a) Wirral and (b) Birkenhead constituency in 2013-14.

Kris Hopkins: Holding answer received on 15 January 2015



The information requested could only be provided at disproportionate cost. We have not undertaken a detailed assessment of the geographical allocation of departmental spending. Spending over £250 is available on my Department’s website, as part of our transparency agenda.

Right to Buy Scheme: Hammersmith and Fulham

Mr Andy Slaughter: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how much his Department has spent on marketing for the Right to Buy scheme in (a) Hammersmith and Fulham and (b) Hammersmith constituency in each year since 2010.

Brandon Lewis: Holding answer received on 16 January 2015



I refer the hon. Member to my answer today to Question UIN 219547. Identifiable spending in the local authority area was £9,986 in 2012-13 and £1,461 in 2013-14. Further information cannot be disaggregated . Figures are not available at a constituency level.

Derelict Land

Roberta Blackman-Woods: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what estimate he has made of the amount of undeveloped brownfield land which his Department considers suitable for development.

Brandon Lewis: The National Land Use Database provides data from local authorities on all previously developed land in England that may be available for development. https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/national-land-use-database-of-previously-developed-land-nlud-pdl

Housing: Construction

Roberta Blackman-Woods: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what estimate he has made of the number of homes for which planning permission has been granted but on which construction has been stalled for more than one year.

Roberta Blackman-Woods: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what estimate he has made of the number of sites where planning permission for housing development has been granted but where construction has been stalled for more than five years.

Roberta Blackman-Woods: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what estimate he has made of the number of sites for which planning permission for housing development has been granted but where construction has been stalled for more than one year.

Roberta Blackman-Woods: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what estimate he has made of the number of homes not yet under construction but for which planning permission has been granted.

Roberta Blackman-Woods: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what estimate he has made of the number of sites where planning permission for housing development has been granted but construction has not yet started.

Roberta Blackman-Woods: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what estimate he has made of the number of homes for which planning permission has been granted but on which construction has been stalled for more than five years.

Brandon Lewis: I refer the hon. Member to my answer of 30 October 2014, to Question, UIN 207630. We do not hold the requested figures on planning permission and the length of time.

Housing: Construction

Roberta Blackman-Woods: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what progress his Department has made on improving access standards for new homes as part of the Housing Standard Review.

Stephen Williams: The Government believes it is vital that people have access to housing which supports them in being independent and living life to the full. We want to see the right housing provision for everyone including older and disabled people and this is already clearly set out in the National Planning Policy Framework. The Housing Standards Review technical consultation, which closed last November, explained how we are taking forward legislation to enable the introduction of higher optional levels of accessibility in Part M of the Building Regulations, including for the first time a fully wheelchair accessible standard, as well as an intermediate standard similar to the Lifetime Homes Standard. This is a significant step forward for accessible housing in England.

Written Questions: Government Responses

Hilary Benn: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, when he plans to answer Question 219026, tabled on 16 December 2014 by the right hon. Member for Leeds Central.

Stephen Williams: The Department for Communities and Local Government has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Written Questions: Government Responses

Hilary Benn: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, when he plans to answer Question 219025, tabled on 16 December 2014 by the right hon. Member for Leeds Central.

Stephen Williams: The Department for Communities and Local Government has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Staff

Pamela Nash: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how much his Department spent on (a) recruitment agency fees, (b) outplacement agency fees for displaced or redundant staff and (c) staff training in each of the last five years.

Kris Hopkins: The Department for Communities and Local Government has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Community Relations

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department is taking to promote religious and ethnic tolerance and understanding.

Stephen Williams: The Department for Communities and Local Government has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Affordable Housing

Emma Reynolds: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, if he will make an assessment of the effect on the delivery of affordable housing of his Department's policy on section 106 affordable housing exemptions for small sites.

Kris Hopkins: The Department for Communities and Local Government has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Planning Permission

Mr Christopher Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, with reference to the letter dated 19 December 2014 from the Minister of State for Housing and Planning to the Planning Inspectorate concerning strategic housing market assessments, whether that letter represents a change in policy by his Department relating to the National Planning Policy Framework; and if he will make a statement.

Brandon Lewis: Holding answer received on 22 January 2015



I refer my hon. Friend to my answer of 5 January to Question UIN 219079. This letter does not change national planning policy, but clarifies how it should operate.

Welfare Assistance Schemes

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, whether his Department has prepared an equality statement on its decision to cease grant funding for local welfare provision from 2015-16.

Kris Hopkins: The Government consultation paper on local welfare provision, published in October, asked a series of questions about equalities impacts. We have been carefully considering these representations and the equality issues, alongside those on the broader draft Local Government Finance Settlement. The Government will publish an equalities statement alongside the final Settlement.

HM Treasury

Pensions: Advisory Services

Cathy Jamieson: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many agents providing guidance through the Pension Wise scheme will be based in Scotland.

Mr David Gauke: Citizens Advice Scotland continue to work with HM Treasury to finalise the number of agents who will be providing coverage for the Pension Wise service across Scotland.

Golf: VAT

David Simpson: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the effect on golf clubs of differences in VAT rules applying to propriety-owned and member-owned golf clubs; and if he will meet the hon. Member for Upper Bann to discuss this matter.

Mr David Gauke: I refer the hon. Member to the HMRC briefing paper (25/14) of June 2014.

VAT

David Morris: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make a comparative assessment of the level of administrative burden the EU VAT place of supply rules places on (a) micro businesses and sole traders and (b) large multinational companies.

Mr David Gauke: A Tax Information and Impact Note was published on 10 December 2013 which included an assessment of the impact on small and micro businesses. It is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/264647/Overview_of_legislation_in_draft.pdf

VAT

David Morris: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what comparative assessment he has made of the way in which (a) the UK and (b) other EU member states have applied the EU VAT place of supply legislation to micro businesses and sole traders.

Mr David Gauke: The new VAT place of supply rules were agreed by all Member States and apply to all businesses across the EU supplying digital services to consumers in other Member States.

VAT

David Morris: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will review the Government's policy on EU VAT place of supply legislation; and if he will suspend the EU VAT place of supply rules for the UK's micro businesses and sole traders.

David Morris: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps the Government is taking to assist micro businesses and sole traders to comply with the EU VAT supply rules.

Mr David Gauke: HMRC have been and will continue to engage with and provide support to UK businesses, particularly small and micro businesses. They have provided guidance, including via channels such as Twitter, to ensure businesses understand all their options and specific guidance on some key issues raised by smaller UK businesses.   This includes advice on how small businesses can register for VAT in the UK to be eligible for MOSS and still benefit from the UK’s VAT registration threshold for sales to UK consumers.   The change to the place of supply rules is important to the UK. It removes a distortion of competition which unfairly favours businesses that locate to a Member State with a lower rate of VAT than the UK. It therefore creates a level playing field for all UK businesses and helps protect UK revenue. We are keen to do everything we possibly can to support the smallest businesses.

Cabinet Office

Low Pay: Females

Gloria De Piero: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what proportion of women earned less than two-thirds of the median hourly pay, excluding overtime, of all full and part-time female employees in each year since 2010.

Mr Rob Wilson: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply. 



ONS Letter to Member - Median Hourly Pay
(PDF Document, 148.91 KB)

Employment

Pamela Nash: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what estimate he has made of the employment rate of people aged 16 to 29 in (a) the UK, (b) Scotland, (c) England, (d) Wales and (e) Northern Ireland in each of the last five years for which figures are available.

Mr Rob Wilson: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply. 



ONS Letter to Member - Employment Rate
(PDF Document, 194.21 KB)

Department for Culture Media and Sport

Arts: Folkestone

Damian Collins: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what support the Arts Council has given to organisations in Folkestone and Hythe constituency since 2010.

Mr Edward Vaizey: The Arts Council England has invested the following in organisations in Folkestone and Hythe constituency since 2010: YearGIALotteryTotal2010/11£86,209£613,928£700,1372011/12£73,279£129,242£202,5212012/13-£101,700£101,7002013/14-£917,909£917,9092014/15-£137,616£137,616Total£159,488£1,900,395£2,059,883 Arts Council England funding supports a number of arts organisations in Folkestone and Hythe constituency including the Creative Foundation (which received £500,000 Grants for the Arts funding for the Folkestone Triennial 2014) and Strange Cargo Arts Company (which received £95,000 Lottery funding in 2014/15).

Broadband

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to the Answer of 7 January 2015 to Question 219653, on broadband, how much of the budget was spent in each local authority area; and where billboards have been used by the campaign in each local authority area.

Mr Edward Vaizey: The Government's superfast broadband advertising campaign is a national campaign and as such, data is not available at local authority level.

Staff

Pamela Nash: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how much his Department spent on (a) recruitment agency fees, (b) outplacement agency fees for displaced or redundant staff and (c) staff training in each of the last five years.

Mrs Helen Grant: The Department for Culture, Media and Sport has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

House of Commons Commission

House of Commons: Shops

Chi Onwurah: To ask the hon. Member for Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross representing the House of Commons Commission, what steps the Commission is taking to ensure that women authors are better represented in the books on sale in the House of Commons Bookshop.

John Thurso: The Houses of Parliament Shop (formerly the Parliamentary Bookshop) on Bridge Street stocks a small selection of political books, primarily recently published, best-selling titles. The Commission supports the buying manager’s current policy that, within these parameters, women authors are represented in the range wherever possible.

Palace of Westminster

Mr Philip Hollobone: To ask the hon. Member for Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross representing the House of Commons Commission, when and by whom a decision will be made on whether to vacate the Palace of Westminster to allow complete restoration and refurbishment to commence.

John Thurso: Given the interest of the House of Lords in this matter the Commission has welcomed the proposal from the Clerks of both Houses that we should establish a Joint Committee following the general election. This would enable both Houses to make an informed decision on the basis of a report from that Joint Committee. As far as this House is concerned the Commission would expect a decision of this significance to be taken on the floor of the House following full consultation.

Department of Health

Accident and Emergency Departments: East of England

Mr David Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many non-emergency admissions to hospital via A&E departments were made in each NHS hospital in (a) Suffolk, (b) Bedfordshire, (c) Cambridgeshire, (d) Essex, (e) Hertfordshire and (f) Norfolk in each year since 2005.

Jane Ellison: The information requested is not collected centrally. The Health and Social Care Information Centre’s Hospital Episode Statistics database classes all admissions through accident and emergency as emergency admissions.

Accident and Emergency Departments: East of England

Mr David Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many people were admitted to hospital for alcohol-related conditions through A&E in NHS hospitals in (a) Suffolk, (b) Bedfordshire, (c) Cambridgeshire, (d) Essex, (e) Hertfordshire and (f) Norfolk in each year since 2005.

Jane Ellison: Information is not available in the format or for the period requested.   Information on the sum of alcohol attributable fractions of finished admission episodes for hospital providers in the east of England with an admission through accident and emergency departments from 2005-06 to 2012-13 is shown in the attached table. 



Alcohol attributable fractions of FAEs - 2005-13
(Excel SpreadSheet, 28.61 KB)

Doctors: Training

Mr Christopher Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to the review by Professor Sir John Temple of the quality of training for doctors, published in May 2010, what progress has been made in negotiations between the NHS and the British Medical Association on changes to the national contract for junior doctors to better reflect the training needs of doctors.

Jane Ellison: In October 2013, NHS Employers entered into formal negotiations with the British Medical Association (BMA). The intention was to reform the contract for doctors and dentists in training (juniors) to promote higher quality medical education, motivate doctors to achieve excellent results for patients and to ensure that contracts remain fair, affordable and fit for the future.   However, after almost 18 months of discussions and negotiations, the BMA ended the negotiations in October 2014. The failure of negotiations led Government to issue a remit to the independent Review Body on Doctors’ and Dentists’ Remuneration. The review body will make recommendations on a new contract in July 2015.

Health Services: Foreign Nationals

Mr Christopher Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to the Government publication, Sustaining Services, ensuring fairness: Government response to the consultation on migrant access and financial contribution to NHS provision in England, published on 30 December 2013, what steps his Department has taken to tackle the issues set out in that report; and if he will make a statement.

Jane Ellison: Following the public consultation undertaken in August 2014[1] and the Government’s response of December 2014[2], the Department has been working to design and implement key improvements through its Visitor and Migrant NHS Cost Recovery Programme. The programme has the stated aim to recover up to £500 million per year from chargeable overseas visitors and migrants (or their home countries) by the middle of the next Parliament. This will be reinvested into the National Health Service to support the sustainability of NHS frontline services.   The Department published an Implementation Plan[3] on 14 July 2014 outlining its intentions for 2014-16. It describes how the Department will assist the NHS to improve the identification rates of chargeable patients and rates of recovery for healthcare provided to such patients over the next year. It includes a number of measures to support NHS frontline staff, and how legislative change brought about by the Immigration Act 2014 will be translated into achievable outcomes within the NHS. It also lays the foundations for the broadening of the current charging rules to include additional areas of healthcare in the future.   The plan outlines four phases of work that are being undertaken: - Phase 1 – Improving the existing system Improves existing systems; develops and delivers financial incentives, encourages sharing of best practice, provides for a training curriculum for NHS staff, and establishes a cost recovery support team to deploy to NHS trusts. - Phase 2 – Aiding better identification of chargeable patients Works with delivery partners to make changes to our existing identity verification mechanisms and registration processes within the NHS (primary and secondary care). - Phase 3 – Implementing the health surcharge Delivers legislative change to support the introduction of the health surcharge (introduced through the Immigration Act 2014) and possible amendment of existing exemptions. - Phase 4 – Extension of the current charging Reviews current overseas visitor charging rules and explores extending the scope of charging in secondary care, and the possibility of introducing charging in certain primary care settings. [1] www.gov.uk/government/consultations/migrants-and-overseas-visitors-use-of-the-nhs[2] www.gov.uk/government/consultations/migrants-and-overseas-visitors-use-of-the-nhs[3] www.gov.uk/government/publications/recovering-costs-of-nhs-healthcare-from-visitors-and-migrant

Temporary Employment

Chris Leslie: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate he has made of the amount that his Department will spend on temporary staff in each of the next five years.

Jane Ellison: The Department uses temporary staff, both civil servants on fixed term contracts and interim and agency workers, to provide flexibility to meet variations in workloads, fill short term resourcing or skills gaps and to help deliver time limited projects. The use of such staff is an important element of managing our resources in the context of the expectation of reducing staffing numbers and admin budgets over the next five years.   The following table shows the estimated spend on payroll-funded staff that are on fixed term contracts, over the next three years. These staff represent around 2.5% of the workforce and around 2.4% of the pay bill. Estimated spend on payroll staff on fixed term contracts   Item2014/152015/162016/17Estimated spend for payroll staff on fixed-term contracts£2.75 million£2.66 million£2.58 millionEstimated numbers of staff on fixed-term contracts (full-time equivalent)4947.546 For interim and agency workers, no forecast is available for the spend on such staff and the Department is looking to reduce their use. All interim and agency staff will be funded from within the Department’s pay budget.

Doctors: Working Hours

Mr Christopher Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to the report of the independent taskforce on the implementation of the Working Time Directive under the chairmanship of Professor Norman Williams, published on 3 April 2014, what steps the Government has taken in response to that report.

Dr Daniel Poulter: Work is ongoing to address the recommendations made by the independent taskforce on the implementation of the Working Time Directive, which has been recognised to have a detrimental impact on the quality of some junior doctors training and on the continuity of care for patients.   Health Education England (HEE) has been tasked in their annual mandate, to continue to work with the Department of Health and stakeholders to explore all the recommendations resulting from the Taskforce’s review and to look at the detail and options open to the National Health Service in the context of the wider recommendations detailed by the taskforce. HEE has set up a specific working group, with membership from the service and other stakeholders (including the Royal College of Physicians) to specifically examine the challenges set by the taskforce around the definitions of work and training. In addition NHS Employers and the British Medical Association are in negotiations on the contracts for doctors and dentists in training and consultants. The negotiations will take into account all relevant factors including regulations and legislation governing working time.   The Department continues to work with the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills to ensure that in any future negotiations or reappraisal of the European Working Time Directive the needs of the NHS for increased flexibility are wholly explored and the concerns detailed in the taskforce’s report fully represented.   Additionally HEE, the Department and other stakeholders will continue to explore the options open to organisations to maximise any flexibility in working patterns, rota design and the deployment of staff to achieve the maximum flexibility possible.

Medical Records: Databases

Mr Roger Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 19 January 2015 to Question 220819, who appointed Tim Kelsey as Senior Responsible Owner (SRO) of the care.data programme; what the role of SRO involves; to whom Mr Kesley is accountable; and whether the composition of the programme board was decided by Mr Kesley.

Dr Daniel Poulter: Tim Kelsey, was appointed as Senior Responsible Owner (SRO) in March 2014 on the departure of the programme’s previous SRO by the Department’s then Director General for Information, Governance and Operations and Informatics Accountable Officer (IAO). He is accountable to the Department of Health’s Director General for Innovation, Growth and Technology, who is also the Department’s IAO.   The SRO is accountable for successful delivery of the care.data programme and its benefits for the health and care system. This involves ensuring the project is set up for delivery, is managed and resourced well, that it delivers the benefits required and manages costs and risks.   The Programme Board was reconstituted in June 2014 following a Project Validation Review carried out by the Major Projects Authority. Programme Board members were formally invited to join by Tim Kelsey, the SRO, based upon the requirement identified by the review for a balance of representation from the Department, those arm’s length bodies with involvement in the programme and representation from those involved in the delivery of the programme at a local level.

Obesity: Children

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate he has made of the number of children who would have been eligible under the adult criteria for bariatric surgery in each year since 2010.

Jane Ellison: No estimate has been made centrally. The criteria for bariatric surgery for children are different to those applied to adults. Weight loss surgery should only be considered to treat obese children in exceptional circumstances and only if the child is physiologically mature.

Eating Disorders

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many people in England are awaiting inpatient treatment for an eating disorder following a GP assessment.

Norman Lamb: NHS England advise that Area Teams do not currently hold routine waiting list information as most normal business would be via their in-region services with any more urgent cases being flagged by the local services to Regional Commissioners to look for an alternative out of region or independent sector placement.   Improving access for mental health is a key priority and part of the Government’s commitment to achieving Parity of Esteem with physical health services.   Achieving Better Access to Mental Health Services by 2020, published 8 October 2014, prioritises the development of standards for access and waiting times for the treatment of eating disorders. Given that the age of onset for eating disorders is most commonly during adolescence, NHS England is focusing initially on children and young people.   As part of the Autumn Statement 2014, it was announced that the Government will invest £150 million over the next five years in England to improve services for children and young people with mental health problems with particular emphasis on eating disorders and self-harm. We will make sure that children and young people with an eating disorder get specialist help early and in the community.   For eating disorders, this will deliver:   - swifter access to evidence-based community treatment; - decrease in the use of inpatient eating disorder beds by at least 50%; - reduction in relapse; - fewer transfers to adult services – reducing approximately 70% of those who need to be treated as adults; - an end to the current cliff edge of transition for young people with eating disorders when they turn 18; and - an end to the variability of provision facing too many children, young people and families now.   The funding will be used to train staff such as psychologists and nurses to provide treatment that can be delivered on an out-patient basis, and to employ additional staff to enable the National Health Service to roll this out across the country. The funding will be used to reduce waiting times and to improve the way in which services are delivered for people with eating disorders. In particular, we want to move towards providing specialist care on an out-patient basis which will mean training more staff – psychologists and nurses – to deliver highly specialised care. With this funding, we hope fewer young people will need admission to hospital, their outcomes will be better and they will be able to receive treatment closer to home.

Staff

Pamela Nash: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how much his Department spent on (a) recruitment agency fees, (b) outplacement agency fees for displaced or redundant staff and (c) staff training in each of the last five years.

Jane Ellison: The Department does use recruitment agencies to recruit some Senior Civil Servants (SCS). The table below sets out how much was spent on recruitment agency fees for SCS appointments, for the last five financial years. In addition, as part of the Department’s recruitment process, at SCS level, shortlisted candidates are required to undergo psychometric assessment prior to their interview. These assessments are carried out by recruitment agents (or their representatives) and form part of our overall recruitment costs. Advertising costs are not included.   Financial YearSpend on RecruitmentAgency Fees (£)Spend for PsychometricAssessments (£)2010-1145,673.0218,2202011-12159,284.8829,1902012-1348,644.6538,2652013-1476,889.4915,6202014-15 to date68,906.3514,971   The Department did use an outplacement agency to outplace some displaced or redundant staff. The table below presents how much was spent on this service with the company concerned in the past five financial years. Financial YearSpend on OutplacementAgency Fees (£)2010-11Nil2011-12Nil2012-136,2042013-1415,9772014-15 to date142For services received in previous year The Department is committed to developing its staff and equipping them with the skills and knowledge to carry out their work.   The Department complies with Cabinet Office procurement controls and as such the preferred supplier for training is Civil Service Learning, who manage the central procurement of “core curriculum” training.   Local administration budgets for directorates and their constituent sections will include learning and development expenditure. Learning and development is funded from both a central Departmental budget and Directorate budgets. Directorates have the discretion to use their budgets to fund professional and technical training relevant to their business needs.   The total spend on staff training in the last five years, combining both central spend by the Learning and Development section of Human Resources (HR) and spend by local Directorates, mentioned above, is presented in the table below, The figures in the table below include payments for Civil Service HR expert services which in turn includes Civil Service Learning fees.   Financial YearSpend on Staff training £2010-11800,0432011-12976,5722012-131,037,1962013-14779,4612014-15 to 31 December 2014629,584   The information in all the above tables does not include costs incurred for programme-funded, non-permanent workers or those for workers employed by the Department’s executive agencies.

Care Quality Commission

Mr Jonathan Djanogly: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether the local hon. Member would ordinarily be one of the stakeholder consultees to a Care Quality Commission Quality Report.

Norman Lamb: The Care Quality Commission (CQC) is the independent regulator of health and adult social care in England. The CQC is responsible for developing and implementing its methodology for assessing whether providers are meeting the registration requirements through its inspection and monitoring of providers. The CQC has provided the following information about Members of Parliament (MPs) involvement in its inspection process for National Health Service acute providers. CQC informs MPs of its plans for scheduled inspections around three months in advance of those inspections taking place. The views of members of the public are sought through local listening events, which local MPs are also invited to attend. Listening events are organised to coincide with the start of an inspection. MPs and members of the public are informed of the dates as soon as the arrangements are in place. MPs are usually informed via email and are also able to send information to CQC for consideration as part of future inspections even if an inspection of a specific trust is not currently planned. Once an inspection report has been finalised it is taken to a quality summit where the report’s findings are presented to the trust, NHS England and local stakeholders who will be directly involved in providing ongoing practical support to the trust. Attendees receive copies of CQC reports in advance of the quality summit. MPs are not invited to quality summits though they usually receive an embargoed copy of the report via email the day before publication. An offer of more detailed information or a briefing is made at the same time.

Care Quality Commission

Mr Jonathan Djanogly: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will take steps to require the Care Quality Commission to consult committees of (a) local district and (b) county councils when preparing Quality reports.

Norman Lamb: The Care Quality Commission (CQC) is the independent regulator of health and adult social care in England. The CQC is responsible for developing and implementing its methodology for assessing whether providers are meeting the registration requirements through its inspection and monitoring of providers. The CQC has provided the following information: CQC does not formally consult committees of local district and county councils during the inspection and reporting process of NHS acute providers. Representatives of local authorities may be invited to attend to provide input in accordance with their statutory roles and support the provider in developing and taking forward their action plan. In the case of large or complex NHS providers, this may include representatives from a number of different local authorities.